The silent story
by Evilkat23
Summary: The 'long' awaited sequel to 'the speechless warrior' they are now back in the normal clans but trouble is starting to stir up and everyone is looking at the Ex-Nightclan warriors.
1. Chapter 1

**I hope you guys didn't think there wasn't going to be a sequel! XD ok reason now I'm some of you are wondering why. Because the real reason was I knew that it would be…I dunno….over 50 chapters if it was all just one story so I decided to break it up so you guys wouldn't be like 'URGH! It's so long!' trust me I've been there myself so this is the sequel and I hope you enjoy please review!**

Barktail opened her yellow eyes and looked around the warriors den in the Thunderclan camp. Midnightclaw and Spottedpelt were right next to her still asleep. She blinked a few times and looked around. It's been a full moon since Nightclan was taken away. Smokeykit was now Smokeypaw and her mentor was Dustpelt, Honeypaw got to keep Rocklash as a mentor along Silverpaw she still had Spottedpelt (much to her demise) The thing that surprised Barktail the most would be the fact that Firestar choose to mentor Tigerpaw.

Barktail slowly got up and not to wake Spottedpelt or Midnightclaw she slowly left the warrior's den. Looking outside she saw Tigerpaw happily give moss to the elders. Tailwind was just outside the nursery looking around as well. Tailwind's stomach was starting to show. She may have been carrying Rocklash's kits but she still refuses to speak to the gray tabby tom. Barktail often wondered if she would ever forgive Rocklash.

Barktail has…it wasn't easy but she did. She knew and understood why Rocklash betrayed them. He was really just looking out for her but he doesn't talk to her. Not because he's ashamed or anything but because if he would even come near her Midnightclaw or Spottedpelt would hiss and almost start a fight with him. He quickly learned to keep his distance. He tried to make up with Tailwind multiple times but she refused to listen to him. There were times when Barktail even wondered why Tailwind came with them. She knew it wasn't just for the kits because if it was then she would have forgiven him by now.

Barktail watched as Ferncloud emerge from the nursery. Her two kits Racoonkit a gray tom with three black rings around the base, middle, and tip of his tail and Rainkit a soft gray she-cat with darker gray tabby stripes (like Rocklash only lighter) ran out and started to play. Ferncloud started to talk to Tailwind and Barktail noticed that those two have become good friends since she arrived. Daisy also befriended Tailwind but Barktail could tell that Tailwind didn't like her that much.

Looking around some more she was Redpaw and Honeypaw playing with each other. Those two become fast friends in fact Honeypaw befriended Coldpaw, and Blazepaw, the other two apprentices in the den. Silverpaw tried but failed after she made fun of Coldpaw's red eyes. Tigerpaw only managed to make friends with Coldpaw but Barktail knew that it bothered Smokeypaw. Barktail knew from experience that this was not going to end well.

"Morning" Spottedpelt said scratching his hind ear walking up to Barktail. Barktail just nodded. "You know you talked once why don't you try again?" he asked and Barktail just shook her head '_No…I don't like talking and you ask me this every day' _for some reason Barktail found herself looking at the medicine den. Leafpool was in there by herself and Barktail felt bad for her. Softpaw her apprentice had died while Barktail was gone. From what Barktail heard a badger got to the poor apprentice while she was collecting herbs. By the time some warriors had gotten to her it was too late.

Leafpool has been grieving ever since. She believes it was her fault that Softpaw had died and Daisy even told her that wasn't there wasn't anything she could of done to save Softpaw. Spottedpelt sighed and Barktail noticed why Honeypaw and Redpaw where now rubbing against each other. Honeypaw was the second pretty brown she-cat that Spottedpelt fell in love with and she just left him like Barktail had. "I would go and see if I can go on patrol…but you know how the others act" he said and Barktail nodded.

It was true the others still haven't accepted them back. They hated Midnightclaw more than anything. If any of them would go near a group of Thunderclan cats they would slowly back off and walk away. Now if Midnightclaw walked near a group of Thunderclan cats they would hiss at him and tell him to go back to his own clan. Even Graystripe would act like that…Graystripe hates Shadowclan cats anyone with a brain would know that.

Spottedpelt let out yet another sigh "well…I guess I should go hunting want to come?" he offered and Barktail shook her head. '_I can't leave Midnightclaw alone…'_ She thought and he shrugged "Ok then…see you later" he said in an almost hurt voice. He then walked away. '_I think being back in this camp is making him love me again'_ she thought as she watched him walk away. She then scratched her ear and shook her pelt. Next thing she knew she was being pushed. She then narrowed her eyes. '_Darkstorm what's new?'_ she thought as she glared at the dark brown warrior "Sorry, hey if you're mad about it then go and run away it's obvious that's what you do best" he said and she narrowed her eyes. Hearing a familiar snarky laugh she rolled her eyes as Petalface woke up.

"It IS what she does best isn't it? I mean when she found out she was pregnant she ran…when she was caught having an affair with a Shadowclan cat what did she do? She ran"

"She's still braver and better than you" came Midnightclaw's voice as he stood up. "Nobody asked you lizard breath!" Petalface hissed and Midnightclaw growled "you forget you jealous, ignorant, Self-centered, mouse-brain! She is my mate and I don't care if I have to make you but you will not and I mean NOT talk to her that way while I'm around!" his green eyes narrowed and Barktail noticed a glint in them.

There was a silence. Barktail couldn't tell if Petalface was thinking of a comeback or was in shock that this ex-Shadowclan cat had not only threated her but had managed to insult her four ways in one sentence. Petalface opened her mouth a couple of times but in the end she stormed out of the den, Darkstorm not to far behind. Midnightclaw then sighed "I'm going to pay for that one I know it" he whispered he then walked over and rubbed again Barktail. "But I know it was worth it" he said with a purr and Barktail purred as well.

"Come on let's go and visit Tailwind" he said lightly hitting Barktail's ear. Barktail nodded and followed her mate. As they walked Barktail instantly noticed the cats whispering and keeping their distance from the two. Once too the Nursery Barktail and Midnightclaw both laughed at the site. Tailwind was on her side and Racoonkit was biting her ear while Rainkit was jumping on her tail. She looked at Barktail and Midnightclaw "I changed my mind…I don't want kits" she said as the two kits started to run around her.

Gently Barktail walked over and stepped on Racoonkit's tail. The kit let out a whine as Barktail leaned down and picked up the kit by his scruff "C'mon let me go!" he yelled squirming. Gently Barktail placed next to Ferncloud who chuckled. Rainkit instantly followed her brother. Ferncloud chuckled again "A natural mother you are" she commented and Barktail just rolled her eyes '_I was raised by the best'_ she thought.

Tailwind sighed "Thank you, I don't know how you did it, it seems almost impossible" Midnightclaw lightly laughed "Don't worry just follow your instinct and you'll do fine" he said in a gently voice and Tailwind sighed again "You forget…These kits are Rocklash's" and both Barktail and Midnightclaw laughed.

Tailwind yawned and shut her eyes "Sleepy" she muttered. Using his tail he motioned for Barktail to follow him out of the nursery. Racoonkit started to run back to Tailwind and Barktail glared at him. He noticed the glare and slowly slunk back to Ferncloud who looked surprised "You got that from Dustpelt that's for sure" she said and Barktail just left the nursery.

Once out of the nursery she and Midnightclaw looked at each other and Midnightclaw lightly touched her tail with his. "I love you" he said and she rubbed against him '_I love you too'_


	2. Chapter 2

Rocklash sighed and shook his dirty pelt. Honeypaw looked at him "you should clean your fur" she said and he glared at her "Hush" he said. "Now, I want you to use your scent to find some prey" he said plainly and Honeypaw sighed "You know Firestar said I could get a new mentor if I wanted" she said and Rocklash glared at her again "But you didn't so listen to me and do as I say" he growled and Honeypaw narrowed his eyes "Midnightstar wants me to change" she challenged and Rocklash hissed "First his name is Midnightclaw! Second you want to change mentors then fine!" Honeypaw flattened her ears and slowly backed up.

She then shut her brown eyes "Fine! I didn't want you as a mentor anyway! I rather have Squirrelflight! She's not only a great warrior but Redpaw's sister!" Rocklash blinked and sighed "Honeypaw…." But it was too late Honeypaw ran back to camp. "Great…Barktail, Midnightclaw, Spottedpelt, and now you" he whispered. Licking his dirty fur clean he slowly walked back to camp. As he walked in he noticed Honeypaw talking to Firestar. "Sorry you can't have Squirrelflight she's still in the nursery with her kits…but you can have Sandstorm she's Redpaw's mother" he said and Honeypaw's eyes lit up "Ok!" Firestar chuckled "I'll let her know" he said.

Rocklash sighed and scratched his ear. '_I forgot about her kits…'_ he thought (Really I just remembered about this if I had remembered sooner I would have put them in the last chapter)

As if on cue her four kits ran out playing with each other. Owlkit a soft cream colored she-cat with white paws and yellow- eyes she was nibbling on Softkit's ear. Softkit looked a lot like Firestar except her eyes where a light blue, Ferncloud had told Rocklash that she named Softkit after Softpaw. Stripedkit ran up and tackled Owlkit off of Softkit. Stripedkit looked a lot like Brambleclaw the only real difference was her paws where black and her eyes where soft green. The last one was the only tom of the litter, Goldenkit, he was a golden brown with speckles of yellow hidden in his pelt.

They were close to being apprentices just one moon away. Rocklash hoped that he could mentor one of them but the odds of that happening are slim to none. With a heavy sigh he walked to the warrior's den. He noticed Barktail he was about to say 'hi' but the moment he saw Midnightclaw he quickly scurried to his moss bed. Laying down he shut his eyes and slowly fell asleep.

**Xxx0000ooooo000xxxxxx**

Midnightclaw sighed as he walked into camp with a mouse hanging out of his mouse. Placing the mouse on the fresh-kill pile he sighed and stretched out his paws. "Midnightclaw" came Brambleclaw's voice. Blinking he looked over to the Thunderclan deputy "Yes?" he asked. Brambleclaw stopped in front of him and looked into his eyes "Firestar would like to talk to you" he said and Midnightclaw dipped his head "Ok" he then walked away.

Brambleclaw was one of the few Thunderclan warriors who didn't treat him bad for him being Shadowclan. Midnightclaw could figure out if it's because of Tigerstar moving to Shadowclan or if it's because he's deputy. Once he reached Firestar's den he stood outside waiting.

"Come in"

Slowly he walked into the den. Firestar was laying down on his moss bed. With a sad sigh Midnightclaw thought '_That could be me if it wasn't for Rocklash…'_ Narrowing his eyes he silently growled. "I've been thinking" Midnightclaw jumped and snapped out of his anger once Firestar spoke. "I know many will not like what I am going to do but…I have faith in you..." Firestar's green eyes looked into Midnightclaw's "I would like you to mentor Stripedkit…Tailwind had told me that you mentored her when she was a Kittypet and now she knows the warrior way and she's probably a tough fighter" Midnightclaw's eyes widen a little "really? It would be an honor! I am glad that you have faith in me" he said happily and Firestar purred a little. "let's just say…I know what you're going though"

Midnightclaw bowed his head "Thank you Firestar it's an honor" Firestar just nodded and Midnightclaw walked out of his den purring but he then stopped and turned back around. Walking back into Firestar's den and sighed "I'm sorry but I must ask…Will Barktail ever mentor?" he asked and Firestar sighed and stood up. "Midnightclaw you do understand that she cannot talk right?" he asked shaking the moss from his orange pelt. Midnightclaw opened his mouth but said nothing.

"I know you do…now let me ask you how can she teach if she can't speak?" Midnightclaw just looked down at the ground and lightly tapped his paw on the earth. Firestar let out another sigh "I know your intentions for her are good ones but even if another cat like her comes a long she can't teach that cat either…"

"She spoke once…"

"And has she spoken since that one time?"

"….."

Placing a tail on the black cat's shoulder he gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry but that's the way it is…" Firestar then left his den. Midnightclaw just shut his eyes and sighed '_Poor Barktail…She can't even leave the camp without someone being with her'_ he thought sadly. Opening his eyes he then walked out of Firestar's den. Looking around camp he saw Spottedpelt playing with Raccoonkit and Rainkit. Midnightclaw watched and then it hit him. Spottedpelt, Barktail, and Rocklash were probably going to be accepted into the clan faster than him and Tailwind because they have Thunderclan roots. Even though they left they were always going to be accepted for the fact they were born and raised here.

Sighing he shook his head. Spottedpelt noticed him and ran up to Midnightclaw happily. "Firestar's letting me mentor Goldkit!" he said enthusiastically and Midnightclaw purred "He said I can mentor Stripedkit!" Spottedpelt purred with him "he must really like you"

"He said…he had faith in me"

Spottedpelt blinked "What could that mean?" Midnightclaw shrugged "I honestly don't know" there was a silence and Midnightclaw looked beyond Spottedpelt and saw Barktail exit the nursery. The sun hit her pelt just right it gave her a golden glow and Midnightclaw sighed. Barktail followed his gaze and sighed "Don't let me stand in your way…I think I'm going to see Tailwind" he then walked away and to the nursery. He passed Barktail and nodded towards her and she did the same and walked up to Midnightclaw. Barktail lightly rubbed under his chin. Midnightclaw purred and rubbed back "Guess what? Firestar is going to let me mentor Stripedkit! Can you believe it?" he asked happily and Barktail just rubbed against him again. Gently he licked the top of her head and she licked his chest happily. "Want to go hunting?" he asked and she nodded happily. They walked to the entrance of the camp and he wrapped his tail around hers. Before they left the camp Petalface came crashing through the entrance almost knocking Barktail down.

Midnightclaw went to yell at Petalface half expecting her to make a snide comment but once he saw her face he realized it was panicked. Quickly she ran to them "Help! Please! A badger! A badger has Darkstorm! Darkstrom's hurt! Please!" Her blue eyes filled with worry. To Midnightclaw's surprise Barktail ran out of camp. "Barktail no!" Midnightclaw yowled. He then turned to Petalface "Get more help! Now!" he demanded. Running out of camp he heard Petalface yell for Firestar. As he ran he extended his claws. He could hear the badger hissing and he could smell fresh blood he couldn't tell if it was cat blood or badger blood.

As he turned he stopped and his fur bristled up at the site. Darkstorm was on the ground his left front paw was twisted at an odd angle and his stomach was bleeding but that's not what made him freeze what made him stop was that the badger had Barktail by her neck in its powerful jaws.

"Let…go…OF HER!" yowling he jumped on the badger's back and started to claw at it. The badger let out a shriek and let go of Barktail who fell with a loud 'Thump'. Midnightclaw noticed that she didn't get up. Growling he tried to claw at the badger's eyes but the big animal managed to push him off. Midnightclaw landed on his back. Yowling in pain he flipped back onto his feet. He charged again but this time the badger swiped at him and managed to hit Midnightclaw. Taken back he rubbed his face and felt blood run down it. Hearing the badger shriek again he looked up and saw Firestar, Coudtail, Millie, Graystripe, Tigerpaw, and Redpaw all surround the badger and attack it.

Feeling the blood continue to run down his face. Shaking his pelt he looked around some more and saw Leafpool looking over both Barktail and Darkstorm. Quickly he ran up to her. "Are they ok? Are they breathing? What about Barktail is she breathing?!" Leafpool looked at him "yes both are breathing, Darkstorm's paw is broken…I might have to put that in a splint….Barktail looks fine just unconscious as for you, you are going have a very bad scar across your face…" she said. A loud shriek rang out and the badger ran out of the forest and towards Windclan.

"Help me" Leafpool said and Midnightclaw nodded and grabbed Barktail by her neck and managed to get her on his back. Leafpool grabbed Darkstorm and started her way back to camp. With Barktail on his back he walked back to camp with Leafpool. In the camp Petalface let out a yowl "Are they dead!?" Midnightclaw perked his ears a little '_Did she just say 'they'? It's almost like she cares for Barktail'_ he thought bitterly then scoffed in his head '_like she would care for Barktail'_.

Leafpool turned to her den and placed Darkstorm on a moss bed and Midnightclaw gently placed Barktail down. "Hold still" Leafpool said turning towards her, she surpised him when she placed a cobweb on his face. Struggling she growled "I said hold still…"

"Well a warning would be nice" he hissed and she rolled her eyes. "I'm going to place some dock on that now a mean it hold still!"

There was a silence as she started to chew on the leaves. Spitting the leaves out she then lightly dabbed the herb on his face. He let out a hiss as his face started to sting. "Calm down" she growled lightly. "There" placing the herb on the ground she looked at him "Was that so hard?" she asked and Midnightclaw narrowed his eyes. "Now, leave so I can work on these two" then pushed him out of the den. "Geez, you didn't have to push me!" he growled a little.

Petalface was standing outside then den looking at the two. The moment she saw Midnightclaw she opened her mouth and looked around obviously wanting to say something but she just shook her head and walked into the medicine den.

"Petalface please leave I will tell you when Darkstorm is feeling better"

Petalface looked at Barktail and noticed that her litermate was waking up. Barktail looked at Petalface but still looked tired. "….I'm Sorry…" she whispered. Barktail looked at her and tilted her head a little. '_What?'_ she thought and Petalface sighed "I'm Sorry…for everything"


	3. Chapter 3

Barktail yawned and slowly sat up. She grinded her teeth as she did so. Slowly she started to walk towards the entrance of the den. Sitting at the entrance she let out a sigh of relief. '_Leafpool wasn't joking when she said I'd be sore…'_ she thought as she watched the cats. Tailwind was laying in the sun next to Daisy and Ferncloud talking. Her stomach was so big; Barktail knew that she was due anytime now. She then noticed Silverpaw glaring at the ground near the apprentice den.

Slowly she walked over to her kit. Silverpaw looked at Barktail and sighed "I miss Jenks" she said plainly and Barktail looked at her. There was a silence she then looked at the ground again. "Honeypaw told me that he's gone…But she's wrong…." She looked back at Barktail and her blue eyes met Barktail's yellow ones. "Jenks is coming back…he's coming to rejoin Nightclan" Barktail looked at Silverpaw and slowly Silverpaw walked back to the apprentice den. '_She must really miss him…'_ she thought as Silverpaw left.

Walking back to the medicine den she cringed with each step. Once inside she knew Darkstorm was up. "What happened?!" he hissed angrily. Barktail just slumped down on her moss bed. Darkstorm started to bite at the splint and Leafpool hissed "Stop that you mouse-brain!" Darkstorm glared at her. He growled and laid down "What is _she_ doing in here? Step on a thorn?" Barktail growled and Leafpool stood tall "She saved your life…if I were you I'd be grateful" Darkstorm narrowed his eyes. "Grateful? To a traitor? You lost your mind Leafpool"

Barktail rolled her eyes. Then Petalface came in the den. "Oh you're up! That's good!" she purred going over to the dark brown and black tabby warrior. "Did Leafpool tell you? Barktail saved you!" she said in a bubbly manner. Darkstorm hissed causing Petalface to back up "no! She didn't! You know she's a traitor so why are you defending her!?" Petalface looked took back.

"She saved you! And yet you want to deny it!" he growled "I won't believe it! I was doing fine without her! Next time leave the fighting to the real warriors!" he hissed to Barktail and this time Petalface hissed.

"Now, you listen to me! Barktail is a warrior! A tough one at that! She risked her life to save you when she didn't have to! If can't accept that then…you can forget about me being your mate!" she then stormed out of the medicine den. She left a confused Darkstorm, a silent Leafpool, and an amused Barktail.

Darkstorm then looked at Barktail and hissed "Everything was going fine until you showed up!" Barktail just rolled her eyes and laid her head back down. Leafpool lightly cuffed Darkstorm's ear. "Hey! I'm not a kit!"

"Then stop acting like one!" She hissed and he shut-up. Barktail let out another sigh and laid her head back down. "Barktail?" it was Spottedpelt she let out a sigh and lifted her head up and looked at the tom. "Petalface told me…are you ok? You aren't hurt to back are you?"

"I can answer those" Leafpool said looking at Spottedpelt. "She's fine just a little sore" she explained and Spottedpelt just sighed "I'm worried about you is all" he said sitting down and Leafpool purred.

Darkstorm growled "She's just fine! Now leave you annoying, kit-brained, traitorous cat!" Spottedpelt growled and crouched down, Leafpool then hissed. "That's enough! Darkstorm if you don't stop insulting the other cats then I'll force poppy seeds down your throat!" there was a silence then Darkstorm grumbled. Spottedpelt got back up and smoothed his ruffled fur. "Well, I just wanted to check up on you-

"Let all cat old enough to catch their own prey join under highledge for a clan meeting!" Firestar yowled. Barktail started to get up from the moss bed and Leafpool sighed "Barktail you don't have to join…"

'_No, I will'_ she thought getting up. Shaking the moss off her pelt she slowly and painfully walked to the entrance of the Medicine den. "Do you need help?" Spottedpelt asked and she shook her head. She watched as Honeypaw and Redpaw leave the apprentice den and watch Firestar. Barktail noticed Brambleclaw next to him. '_so no one is becoming a warrior…what's going on?'_ she asked herself. Midnightclaw trotted up to her and she looked at the scar on his face. It was just below his left eye and stretched across his nose. It was pink and most likely going to stay pink. "What's going on?" he asked and both Spottedpelt and Barktail shrugged. Tailwind came out of the nursery her stomach bulging. It was so big that when she walked it almost touched the ground. "How many do you think she's going to have?" Midnightclaw asked and Spottedpelt just chuckled "Five the least!"

"I would like to start this meeting by saying there have been a scent of rouges in Thunderclan!" he yelled out. A few cats fur bristled up and they started to growl. "What could rouges be doing here!?" Dustpelt yowled. Barktail noticed that Silverpaw wasn't around. '_what is she doing?'_ she asked herself. Brambleclaw then walked up "The scent of these rouges means that there are more than one! We need to find them and drive them out! If you see these rouges then don't be afraid to attack!" he yowled out and the cats yowled with him.

"Another thing I would like to address is the fact on the badger that attacked. The badger is still around and injured! If you catch scent of the badger get help before you attack" Firestar said looking at all the cats below him. They started to nod and mutter a few words. Darkstorm growled "I'm not afraid of any stupid badgers or Rouges!" he hissed. Midnightclaw rolled his eyes "Just go back to the medicine den" he muttered.

Slowly all the cats walked away and did their own things. Barktail let out a sigh and slowly walked back to her moss bed in the medicine den. Laying down she grunted a little. Darkstorm sneered at her. "Ok…well I have to go to Moonpool tonight it's a new moon so I have to go…if you're in any pain while I'm gone…the poppy seeds are right here" using her tail she pointed to the black seeds. "Take no more than two…" she advised. Her eyes then casted up at the sky which Barktail noticed was getting darker. "I should go now…remember no more than two!" she then left the den.

Barktail stretched her paws out and yawned. Her ribs hurt but she didn't want to go and get some poppy seeds. Shutting her eyes she fell asleep.

When she woke it was full night time. Yawning she slowly and painfully stood up. '_some poppy seeds wouldn't hurt now' _ thinking she gently walked over to the poppy seeds and grabbed two. Something didn't seem right though. Placing the seeds down, she looked around the den and realized that she was alone. '_where is Darkstorm?!'_ she thought realizing that his nest was empty. She just shrugged '_Probably apologizing to Petalface or something'_ grabbing her poppy seeds she laid down on her nest and started to eat them.

Letting out a yawn she laid her head down and slowly fell asleep again.

**XX000OOOOXXXXxxxxxXXXXX**

"Barktail! Wake up! Now!" Midnightclaw yowled worriedly slowly Barktail opened her yellow eyes. Rubbing her nose with her paw and looked at Midnightclaw. His eyes where filled with nothing but worry. Slowly she stood up. There was a loud yowl. Barktail couldn't tell if it was from pain or….

Ignoring her pain she ran out of the medicine den and saw all the cats crowded around something. Pushing past the other cats she froze. Darkstorm. He was dead. His neck twisted at an odd angle like his paw. Petalface let out a loud yowl. Leafpool just stood there her mouth open in shock. Firestar pushed pasted the cats and yowled out "What is the meaning of this!?"

Leafpool shook her head "He left the medicine den last night! When I walked back to camp…" nobody said anything. "He smells of those rouges! They killed him!" Petalface yowled again. "I see…ok we'll double our patrols! And hold a silent vigil for Darkstorm" Petalface unsheathed her claws and growled "we should of doubled our patrols before Darkstorm got killed!" she hissed at Firestar and the leader nodded sadly "It is a shame that a life was lost…but he is in Starclan now…" Petalface let out another yowl of despair. "Darkstorm! I'm so sorry!" she screamed breaking Barktail's heart a little.

Gently Barktail walked up to her '_you may not of been a sister to me but that doesn't mean I can't be one too you'_ she thought as she gently rubbed against her sobbing sister. Petalface rubbed against Barktail's neck and let out a sob in Barktail's fur. "Darkstorm…why my best friend?..." gently Barktail placed her tail on Petalface's shoulder. She then saw a fluffy white tail lay on Petalface's other shoulder. Looking up she saw Tailwind. The she-cat gently rubbed against Petalface. "It's ok…he's in a better place…"Midnightclaw walked up to them and so did Spottedpelt. "Thank you…" she whispered rubbing against Barktail.

She then stopped sobbing and laid down in front of the dead Darkstorm. She then looked up at Barktail "please join me" she whispered and slowly Barktail laid down in front of Darkstorm. Midnightclaw and Tailwind joined as well. Her stomach bunched up under her and she shifted a little. Barktail watched as the patrol left the camp. Leafpool laid down next to Barktail and sighed sadly. Barktail looked at her and she knew that Leafpool pelt guilty on the fact that Darkstorm was dead, for Darkstorm was under her care like Softpaw.

Nobody noticed Silverpaw watching in the shadows. The silver tabby purred. "Jenks is back"


	4. Chapter 4

Barktail looked at the sky as Brambleclaw and Thornclaw took Darkstorm away to bury him. Petalface watched with sad eyes. Looking back at the camp she walked over to Midnightclaw. Her mate looked at her and lightly nudged her. "Darkstorm was wounded….what kind of cat kills a wounded one? It's not right!" he hissed. Barktail nodded in agreement. Spottedpelt walked away from them and over to Petalface.

"Hey" he muttered and Petalface looked at him "Why are you talking to me?" she asked in a weak, whiny voice. Spottedpelt looked around "O-Oh if you don't want me to…then I'll just-

"No, I was just wondering why…I mean I've been mean to you and Barktail and you two act so nice to everyone…." She started to shake and Spottedpelt lightly touched his tail with her shoulder "There, There" he said Petalface started to sob again. "…the last thing I told Darkstorm was if he wouldn't stop being mean then I won't be his mate anymore…"

Spottedpelt gave her a sympathetic look "We all say things we don't mean…trust me on that one" he muttered the last part. Petalface then looked at him "That's not the worst"

"There's more?" he asked and she nodded "I'm expecting his kits! I never got to tell him!" she yowled again. Spottedpelt's eyes widened. "They'll never know their father" rubbing her face with her paw she started breathing hard. Leafpool walked up to Petalface with two poppy seeds. "Here…it'll help" she said pushing the seeds towards her. Petalface nodded and licked up the seeds. "C'mon I'll walk you to the den" Spottedpelt said as he walked with Petalface.

Midnightclaw let his claws slide out. "I never liked Darkstorm but the moment I find the rouge that did that to him…I'll rip him open" he growled his green eyes darkening. Gently Barktail placed her tail on his shoulder and rubbed against him. Tailwind purred for a second then stopped her eyes widening. "Are you ok Tailwind?"Leafpool asked noticing her face. Barktail noticed her stomach rippling. "Oh no…" Leafpool muttered. "Ok Barktail get Tailwind to the nursery! Somebody get Rocklash!" Leafpool yowled running into the medicine den grabbing a bunch of herbs. "Must we get Rocklash!?" Midnightclaw asked and Leafpool glared at him "He's the father is he not!" with a groan Midnightclaw rolled his eyes "Fine! I'll get him!" he said running out of the camp.

Barktail helped Tailwind lay down on the moss bed. Her stomach rippled and Tailwind yowled out in pain. Ferncloud kept Raccoonkit and Rainkit away and Squirrelflight did the same with her own kits. The kits kept trying to peek over their mothers but it wasn't working. Tailwind let out another yowl. "I can't…I can't" she whispered clawing at her moss bed. Barktail lightly rubbed against her in comfort. Leafpool then came rushing in "Thank you Barktail I'll take-

"No! Barktail stay please!" Tailwind yowled desperately looking at Barktail. Leafpool nodded "Fine, Fine Barktail when the kits come out help me clean them ok?" she asked and the brown and white warrior nodded. Tailwind yowled loudly again as her stomach rippled. Rocklash came running in the nursery "I'm here!" he yowled. "GET OUT!" Tailwind screeched causing the gray warrior to scamper out of the nursery and the kits to hide. Leafpool just blinked "Ok…Maybe Midnightclaw was right about that" she muttered losing focus. She quickly shook her head and went back to Tailwind.

Barktail watched as blood started to come out of the queen. She then yowled and clawed even harder at the ground. There was a noise and Barktail saw a bloody kit come out. Acting quickly she started to clean the kit. Once the kit was breathing and whining for milk she placed it by Tailwind's stomach and looked at it. It was a she-cat. She was light brown with pitch black spotted tabby stripes. Tailwind started to pant.

Gently Barktail licked Tailwind's ears in support. Tailwind grimaced as the next one came out. Letting out another yowl pushed and out came another bloody kit. This time Leafpool cleaned it. Once clean she placed it next to the other one. This one was also brown but a tom with a white chest. It didn't take long for the third one to come up. Leafpool cleaned this one as well. Barktail placed her tail on Tailwind's flank and watched as Leafpool placed the kit next to its siblings. This one looked a lot like Sandstorm. A she-cat with one white front paw and the other was black.

Tailwind started to pant again her green eyes wide. "Is it done?" she whimpered. Gently Barktail nudged her head. Tailwind let out another yowl in pain. She started to sob while the kit came out. Finally the kit came out. Tailwind laid her head down in exhaustion and started to catch her breath. Barktail clean this one it was a white tom with smokey blue spotted tabby stripes. "Ok, it's over" Leafpool said with a purr. Tailwind let out a sigh, Raccoonkit peeked from behind Ferncloud. "Now Raccoonkit, Rainkit, you two stay away from those kits…they aren't ready to be played with yet" Ferncloud said to her kits. "The same goes for you four stay away from them" Squirrelflight said sternly and her kits nodded. Leafpool gave her some borage "I'll go and tell the others" she said walking out of the nursery.

Tailwind ate the borage. Barktail could tell she didn't like it one bit. Tailwind looked over her kits and started to lick them. Rocklash and Midnightclaw entered the den both glaring at each other while they did so. Barktail noticed Spottedpelt outside the nursery trying to look in. Rocklash looked at all the kits and purred deeply "They're beautiful like you" he said and Midnightclaw snorted a little. Tailwind lightly looked at him "They are beautiful…" She said gazing over them. "Have you thought of any names yet?" Midnightclaw asked and Tailwind nodded and pointed to the brown tom with a white chest. She then looked at Barktail almost as if she wanted approval "…..Barkkit" There was a silence then Midnightstar nodded "Yeah I like that name" he said looking over at Barktail with a purr. Rocklash nodded then looked at the other three. She pointed to the brown and black tabby she-cat "Blackkit" she said proudly and Midnightclaw purred "I like that name…but she's not all black….I guess that doesn't matter" he said shaking his head.

"Well that's not true…her tail is almost all black" Rocklash argued. Midnightclaw glared at him but didn't talk back. Rocklash looked at the white and gray tom and tilted his head "Would you like to name him?" Tailwind asked Rocklash and he nodded like a happy kit. He looked at the blue smokey stripes and white fur. "Bluekit?" Midnightclaw snorted "It should be Whitekit" he said and Rocklash glared at him. "His stripes are blue! He should be named after his stripes!" he hissed. Midnightclaw was quick to his back "The rest of him is white! He should be named after his fur color!" Barktail and Tailwind blinked. '_Why does this seem familiar?'_ Barktail thought and she could tell Tailwind thought the same thing.

"Bluekit!"

"Whitekit!"

Tailwind then busted out laughing and both looked at her. "What's so funny?!" Midnightclaw demanded. "You two did the exact same thing…arguing about the exact same names for me" she said and it hit Barktail she was right. Both Rocklash and Midnightclaw went quiet. "So…I shall name him…Lightkit" she said with a purr and Midnightclaw nodded and purred "I like that better" he said and Rocklash nodded "Me too" he said and for a second Midnightclaw and Rocklash stopped being mad at each other and purred like old times but the second was over and both glared at each other. "There is still one more kit" Tailwind said nuzzling the light ginger kit.

Rocklash looked at the kit closely. He looked at her one white paw and one black paw. "Gingerkit…" he said plainly and looked for approval…or an argument. Midnightclaw just nodded "I like that one…Barktail?" he asked his mate and the she-cat nodded. Tailwind nodded as well "I like it" she said and Rocklash looked proud. "I'll go and tell Firestar!" he said happily and Midnightclaw growled "haven't you've done that enough?" he asked causing tension to rise. Rocklash just stopped walking and didn't turn to face Midnightclaw.

"Enough. I told you my reason for doing it. Just stop" he said walking out of the nursery. Midnightclaw sneered and walked out of the nursery. Tailwind sighed then looked at Barktail. Squirrelflight and Ferncloud just sat there awkwardly. "I think we should forgive him" Tailwind said finally catching Barktail off guard. There was another silence then Tailwind looked at her kits. "I think he's been through enough don't you?" Barktail let out a sigh and started to think.

'_he broke up Midnightclaw's dream….but as far as I know he kept his promise to me and never told Firestar about Midnightclaw when we were seeing each other secretly_ …_he told Smokeypaw about being found and now she won't talk to me or Midnightclaw…he caused Luna, Jenks, and Angel to leave and go back to their twolegs or become loners…'_

Tailwind could tell that she was thinking and she then sighed "Well, you don't have too but I will" she said plainly and Barktail nodded '_I already forgave him…I just can't talk to him'_ she thought sadly. Spottedpelt came into the nursery. "look at them…they are so adorable…Names?" he asked happily and Tailwind lightened up and pointed to each of them. "That's Barkkit…that's Blackkit…that's lightkit…and that one is Gingerkit"

Spottedpelt purred along with Tawind she then looked at him. "Will you be willing to forgive Rocklash?" she asked out of the blue causing Spottedpelt to narrow his eyes at her a little. "Where did that come from?" he asked the queen and Tailwind looked down "It's just I think he has been through enough is all" Spottedpelt snorted but didn't reply. Leafpool came into the nursery and quickly shooed Barktail and Spottedpelt out. Once out of the den Barktail noticed the other cats keeping their distance from them and whispering to each other.

She quickly caught up on a conversation that Foxleap and Cloudtail where having.

"I think Barktail did it"

Barktail's ears twitched and went up.

"I mean she was in the same den with him and she knew that Darkstorm's paw was broken and he wasn't allowed to leave the den…a bet she let him leave the den and followed him out of camp to kill him" Foxleap said and Cloudtail shook his head.

(btw, if this OOC then I'm sorry)

"No, if anyone did it, it was either that Shadowclan cat or Spottedpelt…I mean neither of them liked Darkstorm and both would do anything for Barktail"

Barktail let out a silent growl but she soon realized every cat was talking about them…with a sigh she sat up and listened to the other conversations.

"They said it was a rouge that killed him but I think Midnightclaw covered his scent with something then killed him to make it seem like a rouge" Brakenfur said to Sorreltail.

Spottedpelt let out a sigh "C'mon lets go out of the camp were we won't be accused of something we didn't do" he said with a light growl and Barktail nodded. '_just when I thought things where looking up….'_


	5. Chapter 5

Barktail let out an agitated sigh as the other cats walked away from her. So far the only Thunderclan warrior that won't ignore her or walk away was strangely enough Petalface. She noticed Honeypaw and Redpaw eating fresh-kill together their tails intertwined. Barktail felt sorry for Spottedpelt, it's obvious that the black and white warrior had a thing for Honeypaw but sadly like Barktail she left Spottedpelt for another.

'_Spottedpelt likes to fall in love with any pretty brown she-cat' _she thought with a purr. Looking around some more she saw Silverpaw laying in the sun. _'Ever since Darkstorm's death she seems to be…Happier'_ she thought watching her kit roll around in the sun light. Tigerpaw and Firestar had left the camp to go hunting. '_Why did Firestar choose to mentor Tigerpaw? Is because of his name?'_ she thought out of nowhere. Any mother should be happy that the leader is mentoring their kit but Barktail had her suspensions.

Smokeypaw was with Dustpelt collecting some more moss for the elders. With a yawn she laid down in the sun and felt her fur warm up. The cats around her got up and walked to the other side of the camp. With a silent growl she rolled her eyes. Licking her white paws clean she felt something on her shoulder. Blinking she turned her head but saw nothing "Looking for something" came a purr on her other side. Jumping up she turned and glared at Midnightclaw. Her mate laid down next to her and purred deeply. "They're so cute together" he said. Barktail figured he was talking about Honeypaw and Redpaw but when she followed his gaze it surprised her to see Spottedpelt and Petalface laying down next to each other.

All she could do was blink. _"Spottedpelt and Petalface? Those two together? No…Spottedpelt doesn't like Petalface…well she is a brown color'_ she thought as looked at the tortoiseshell's coat. It was brown, black, and cream colored. Barktail let out a silent laugh as she watched the two. Licking her paw she swiped it over her ears a few times. She decided to clean her tail. Leaning over she started to clean the base of her tail. She lifted her white paw keeping her balanced to clean her tip but doing that caused her to lose her balance. She fell over on to her back and Midnightclaw laughed loudly at her.

Barktail rolled on too her stomach and shook her pelt. Without thinking she crouched down and tackled him. "Gah!" he cried out as Barktail hit him. The two tumbled on the ground for a few moments ignoring the cats watching them. Finally Barktail pinned him down. "Oof!" Midnightclaw looked at her with a mixture of shock and awe. "You've gotten stronger" he then purred at her and Barktail rubbed against the side of his head. Barktail got off of Midnightclaw and licked her paw. Midnightclaw shook his pelt and Barktail watched as dust and some sand go flying off his coat. "You got me dirty" he said to Barktail and purred again. Gently Barktail walked up to him and licked his dirty fur. As they cleaned Barktail could feel the stares of the other cats.

"I can handle it from here…I think Rocklash wants to talk to you…" he growled and with his tail pointed to the gray and blue warrior slowly approaching them. Midnightclaw walked to the warrior's den and Barktail walked up to Rochlash. "Wow, he didn't attack me" he said he then sighed and yawned a little. "Tailwind has forgiven me…but she said that she can't be mates with me" he said looking at his paws. Barktail just looked at him and he looked at her his blue eyes filled with sadness.

"I really wanted to talk to Midnightclaw…but it's obvious that he will never forgive or talk to me" with a heavy sigh he sat down and his ears flattened. "I really am sorry…Really I…just couldn't trust a Shadowclan cat…then he went and made me deputy and told me he trusted me…." Barktail looked down at the ground with him. "I made a mistake and I know that…I just wish he will forgive me" gently Barktail placed her tail on his shoulder gently Rocklash looked into Barktail's eyes. "Thanks for listening again" he then walked away. '_Poor Rocklash'_ she thought as her brother walked away.

With a sigh Barktail trotted to the nursery and peeked in. Ferncloud was grooming Rainkit, Raccoonkit was fast asleep curled up next to his mother his striped tail was in front of his nose. Looking over some more she saw Squirrelflight and her kits asleep. Stripedkit was laying by her mother's head while Goldenkit laid on her stomach and Owlkit under Squirrelflight's white paw. Softkit was by herself laying in the sun. Her orange fur glinting in the sun.

"Barktail you can come in no one is going to attack you" Tailwind said once she noticed the brown and white warrior looking into the nursery. Slowly Barktail walked in and looked at the kits suckling on Tailwind. Blackkit and Barkkit started to fight over a nipple. Gently Tailwind grabbed Barkkit and placed him over towards Lightkit. "No fighting now" she told them. She then purred "Barkkit is going to be trouble I can tell, he's been fighting with his other siblings all day" She told Barktail with a glint in her eye. Barktail purred and watched as Lightkit whined as Barkkit pushed the kit away and Tailwind sighed "This kit is going to be a LOT of trouble" she said with a sigh she grabbed Lightkit and placed him next to Gingerkit. Barkkit seemed to like the extra room and settled down. Tailwind let out another sigh "I take it Rocklash told you?" she asked Barktail and Barktail nodded.

"I will forgive I just can't even think about being his mate right now!" she hissed a little. Barktail placed her tail on the queen's flank. Tailwind looked at her "Am I wrong?" she asked and Barktail just shook her head. '_You are not wrong Tailwind I can understand why you are mad at Rocklash'_ she thought and Tailwind started to groom Gingerkit. "I just need time to think if I want him back is all…" she whispered. She laid her head down and sighed "I'm tired" she whispered. Barktail leaned down and licked the queen's head '_Sleep you need it'_ she thought. Tailwind just purred "Barktail?...Thank you for everything" she said shutting her eyes. It didn't take long for the queen to fall asleep.

Barktail turned around to walk out of the nursery. "Barktail wait!" Ferncloud called out. Barktail looked at her own mother and trotted up to her. "I noticed that she looks at you like a mother" she said and Barktail just tilted her head. "You don't see it?" she asked tilting her head looking at Barktail. "Well as a mother I see it…just wait you will" Ferncloud placed a tail on Barktail's shoulders then went back to Rainkit and Raccoonkit.

Barktail just blinked then walked out of the nursery '_She doesn't see me like that I mean she had a mother…does she see me like that?'_


	6. Chapter 6

**oh my god! i am sooooo sorry i can't believe i did that! i'm sorry i uploaded a chapter from another story i was working on i really really didn't mean too i am such an idiot at times please forgive me!**

Spottedpelt got up and shook his pelt. Petalface who was lying next to him purred her golden eyes then fell to the ground. Spottedpelt noticed and looked at her "Is everything ok?" he asked the tortoiseshell and she just let out a sigh of sadness. "I miss Darkstorm" she then looked at her stomach. Gently Spottedpelt leaned down and rubbed against her head. "Hey, he's watching you from Starclan right now…he'll always be with you" he said and Petalface rubbed back.

"Thank you Spottedpelt…I appreciate it"

"No…problem….Hey Petalface?"

"Yes?"

"Would…Would you like to go hunting with me?"

Petalface purred "I'd love to" standing up she and Spottedpelt walked out of the camp side by side. Midnightclaw, who was watching the whole thing, shook his head "good luck Spottedpelt…knowing your history with she-cats you're going to need it" he chuckled and walked away. His green eyes fell on Stripedkit who was playing with Rainkit. His eyes then looked over towards Barktail. She was laying in the sun making her light brown fur a golden brown. Tilting his head he noticed the way she was breathing.

He then chuckled '_silly she-cat fell asleep in the middle of camp'_ he lightly walked over towards her and nudged her side with his head. She opened her yellow eyes and sleepily looked at him. "You fell asleep" he said and she just blinked and slowly stood up. Midnightclaw noticed that she looked like she was in pain as she did so. "Are you ok Barktail?" he asked and the she-cat just nodded at him. "Want to share some fresh-kill?" he asked her. Barktail looked at him for a few seconds then sleepily nodded. With a chuckle he and Barktail walked to the fresh-kill pile.

He watched as Barktail picked up a plump lemming. He's gotten use to eating mice and on occasions some birds when they ran off but he never had a lemming. He watched as Barktail take a bite of the small mammal. She then pushed it towards Midnightclaw. He looked at the small rodent and gulped '_for love…' _his mind whispered. He slowly took a bite and his eyes widen. It wasn't good it was delicious! He wanted to take another bite but he resisted and pushed it towards his mate. Barktail took another bite then licked the blood off of her muzzle. Midnightclaw took one last bite and did the same.

Barktail started to lick her paw and rub it against her face a few time. With a sigh Midnightclaw looked at her. She noticed his gaze and stopped grooming. She then tilted her head and blinked. There was a silence between the two and Midnightclaw sighed again. "Barktail…." He then shut his green eyes. "I can tell…something is bothering you….I can tell" he whispered. Barktail let out a sigh of her own and gently placed her fluffy tail on his shoulder. He looked into her yellow eyes then purred. "But you can take care of yourself…so whatever is on your mind I know you can handle it" he said and she rubbed against his head.

She then pulled away and let out a purr. With little to no warning she turned around and her tail went under Midnightclaw's chin and she walked away into the warriors den. All Midnightclaw could do was blink. Smokeypaw walked by him with Dustpelt. The Thunderclan warrior lightly hissed at Midnightclaw "Once Shadowclan always Shadowclan" The warrior said not caring that Smokeypaw was right next to him. Midnightclaw ignored him and walked away. Spottedpelt and Petalface came back from their hunting. Both with three piece of fresh-kill. Petalface had a plump Thrush, mouse, and lemming. Spottedpelt had a pigeon, and two mice.

Both placed their kill on the fresh-kill pile. Midnightclaw walked up to the two and purred. "Nice findings" he commented and Spottedpelt purred "Thanks! If it wasn't for Petalface I don't think we would have found them!" Spottedpelt praised. Midnightclaw noticed Petalface looking down and lightly tapping her paws on the ground. Midnightclaw purred "Well, that's good" he said.

Midnightclaw looked over and saw Firestar approaching them. The bright orange tom walked over to the small group. "Hello, Midnightclaw, Spottedpelt, Petalface" he said all of them dipped their heads and looked at the leader. "Tonight is the gathering and Petalface I want you to come" he said and Petalface dipped her head again "Thank you Firestar" she said the leader then walked away. Petalface frowned (Can they do that?) and looked at the two "he didn't invite you two" she said and both Midnightclaw and Spottedpelt sighed "No surprise really" Midnightclaw said and Spottedpelt nodded "Maybe the next gathering but this is the first time we've been back and the other cats might act….hostile towards us" Spottedpelt said with a shrug. "It's for the best really" he finished. Petalface sighed "I'll be lonely" she said sadly and Spottedpelt lightly rubbed against her. "It'll be fine" he told her.

Spottedpelt then stopped and looked almost sad. Midnightclaw turned his head and followed Spottedpelt's gaze. Honeypaw and Redpaw where walking out of the apprentice den both looking very happy. Tigerpaw and Coldpaw walked out as well but they didn't look as happy. He turned to talk to Spottedpelt but both him and Petalface where gone. "You could have said bye" he muttered to himself. Honeypaw spoke not far from him. "I never have been to a gathering before! What's it about?" She asked Redpaw.

"what? You never been to one?! Well it's basically a bunch of cats from all the clans and the leaders talk about what's happening in their territory…that's really it" he explained. Tigerpaw snorted "Sounds boring" he said and Coldpaw shook her head "It's not! It's really fun! You can get new friends from the other clans!" she told him her red eyes wide. Silverpaw walked up "I'm with Tigerpaw it sounds boring" she said in monotone. She then looked at Coldpaw "Red eyes" she said and Coldpaw swatted at Silverpaw in a nonplayful way. Redpaw glared at Silverpaw then turned to Honeypaw "just stay with me" he said with a chuckle.

Midnightclaw sighed and walked into the warrior's den not caring to listen to the rest. Barktail was fast asleep curled up in a tight ball with her tail by her nose. Midnightclaw yawned and laid down next to her. He slowly fell asleep.

**XXXXXOOOOOXXXXX000000XXXX**

The feeling of something poking his side woke him. Yawning he looked around the full moon shone brightly in the warrior's den. He saw Petalface and Spottedpelt looking very worried at him. He blinked and tried to get his mind together '_The gathering must be over…what's going on'_ he looked at them again and then he noticed Rocklash in the entrance also looking worried. Gently he got up and looked at them "What's wrong?" he asked. "In a minute" Petalface whispered. He watched as she nudged Barktail awake. "We need to be alone" Spottedpelt said. He then nodded at Rocklash who walked away and most likely walked out of the camp. Spottedpelt waited for a few seconds before pushing a confused Midnightclaw out of the den and out of camp.

They walked for a few minutes until they reached Rocklash near the lake. "What is going on?!" Midnightclaw demanded and Spottedpelt just hushed him. "Wait until everyone is here" he whispered. Midnightclaw just growled and sat waiting. There was a long silence as they waited. Petalface, Barktail, and Tailwind came though the bushes. Tailwind looked worried, Barktail looked like she was just going to fall asleep on the spot and Petalface looked anxious. Once they all settled Spottedpelt looked at Petalface "Tell them" he said plainly.

Petalface took a deep breath then looked at all the faces. "At the gathering I found out that…Darkstorm wasn't the only one killed" she said and Midnightclaw just looked at her "you woke us all up…to tell us that?" he asked and she shook her head. "No, the Shadowclan cat that was killed at Waterflight!" she said and Midnightclaw's eyes widen and he noticed Barktail's do the same. "Waterflight is dead?" he said in a somewhat sad voice. Waterflight was his friend but he knew that the she-cat was jealous of the fact that he chose Barktail and not her. He knew that she was the reason Barktail has a scar across her eye.

"who else was killed?" Tailwind asked and Petalface sighed "One cat from every clan…Darkstorm, Waterflight, Petalfur- from Riverclan, Flowerfur-from Windclan" she said in a sad voice. Rocklash shook his head "Who would do that and why?" he asked the moon on his fur giving him a silver glow. Both Petalfur and Spottedpelt looked at each other saying that they knew. Midnightclaw stepped up using his leader voice he spoke "Who would do this? Why would rouges do this?" Petalface sighed "The thing is…almost everyone believes…You guys did it"


	7. Chapter 7

Midnightclaw let out a shaky breath as he tried to get back to sleep. '_They think you guys did it…' _Petalface's voice rang into his mind. '_Four warriors dead…one from each clan'_ he thought. Looking at Barktail he watched his mate sleep for a few seconds. Her chest slowly risen and fell as she slept, her legs started to twitch for a few seconds then stopped. Gently he laid his head back down. His green eyes then looked at her stomach. It was flat, no sign of pregnancy.

He let out a heavy sigh. He wanted more kits. Not knowing why he just did. He then shook his head, right now he needed to sleep and stop thinking about things. He turned away from Barktail and shut his eyes. He shifted around a few times until he was comfortable. Slowly he dozed off.

When he woke the sun was shining brightly outside. He slowly sat up and stretched his back popped a few times and he shook his pelt. Walking out of the den he looked around. His eyes squinted against the harsh sunlight. As his eyes adjusted Rocklash walked up to him. Letting out a growl he glared at the gray and blue warrior. "Please! Just talk to me!" he yowled before Midnightclaw could walk away. Stopping he glared at the warrior again "I said what I needed to say! You betrayed us! Now look at what's going on! Cats are being killed and we're to blame!" he said hotly to Rocklash.

The warrior flattened his ears and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry…"

"Just leave me alone!"

Still looking down he walked away with his ears and tail hanging low. '_Let him feel guilty!'_ he thought with a growl. Turning around he walked towards the nursery. Rainkit and Raccoonkit where play fighting with Goldenkit and Softkit. "You will not win Rainstar!" Softkit hissed as she batted the blue and gray tabby's head. "Don't worry Rainstar I'll protect you!" Raccoonkit yowled as he jumped and tackled Softkit. "No! Softstar!" Goldenkit yelled. The kit went to attack Raccoonkit but Rainkit stopped her "Your deputy is no more!"

Midnightclaw couldn't help but chuckle at the kits and lightly stepped around them but it didn't help because Rainkit yowled "Get the Shadowclan warrior!" before he could do anything, he was on the ground with four kits jumping on him. "Get off!" Midnightclaw hissed trying to push the kits off but it didn't help. "Hey! Get off of him!" Came a voice. Slowly the kits got off of him. Getting up he shook his now dirty pelt. "We were just getting the Shadowclan warrior" Rainkit explained, to Midnightclaw's surprise, Rocklash.

Rocklash lightly growled at Rainkit "That's being mean to him, you know he came from Shadowclan originally but he's a Thunderclan cat now" he said his blue eyes locked onto Rainkit's yellow eyes. Rainkit shuffled her paws "We were just playing…" she said she then looked at Midnightclaw "I'm sorry" she looked down and Midnightclaw just looked at her "it's fine….why don't you go and play by the fresh-kill pile" he told her and she nodded. Slowly the little group left.

Rocklash walked over to him and sat down. There was a silence then Midnightclaw sighed "Thanks" he muttered not looking at Rocklash "You're welcome" he muttered as well also looking away. Without saying anything he walked into the nursery and looked at Tailwind, She was fast asleep and her kits where happily suckling away.

"Hello Midnightclaw" Ferncloud said a little stiffly. Midnightclaw looked at her and noticed that her fur was rising just a little. He took a deep breath then faked a purr at the silver queen "Hello Ferncloud, how are you" he asked and the queen just stared at him up and down "Fine." She glared at him like he did something wrong. There was a few seconds of silence then Daisy spoke "So Midnightclaw how is Barktail?" both Midnightclaw and Ferncloud looked at her "She was in here no more than a sunrise ago" Ferncloud said in a tone that Midnightclaw never heard her in before.

Daisy got the hint and just backed away. Tailwind started to stir from the noise and Ferncloud glared at Midnightclaw again but then walked back to her own nest. Tailwind lifted her head and purred at Midnightclaw "Oh hello" she said with an airiness in her voice. Midnightclaw purred "How are they?" he asked and Tailwind laid her head back down. "Fine, tiresome, but fine" she sat up and started to lick them clean. Lightkit mewed at his mother Ferncloud suddenly gasped. "What?" Midnightclaw asked worriedly "They're opening their eyes! Come and see!" Quickly he raced over and looked at the four kits. Lightkit was first, his eyes where a bright blue, the kit blinked then looked around for a few moments then laid his head back down to Tailwind. Barkkit was next his eyes opened and shown to be a pale green, he looked around and tried to stand up but failed and fell down. Tailwind chuckled and moved the kit back to her stomach.

Gently Blackkit opened her eyes next, like Barktail and Rainkit, her eyes where a bright yellow. They didn't stay open for long though. She shut them and fell back asleep. Gingerkit was the last one, her eyes where a pale orange color, she blinked then looked up at Midnightclaw. Gently the black warrior leaned down so his black nose touched her pink one. The kit then laid her head back down. "They have pretty eyes" he told Tailwind who nodded "They do" With a purr he rubbed against her. Brambleclaw looked into the nursery "Ah! Midnightclaw there you are" he said causing Midnightclaw to look at the deputy. "Good, would you like to go on a patrol with me, Firestar, Dustpelt, and Rocklash?" he asked in a monotone voice. All Midnightclaw could do was nod. Tailwind purred a little then laid her head back down.

Joining the patrol he puffed his chest out a little as Firestar looked at him. Rocklash looked at him and lightly purred, Midnightclaw chose to ignore him and waited to leave. As they left the camp he saw Barktail walk out of the warriors den looking sleepy.

Once fully out of the camp, Midnightclaw realized they were heading towards Shadowclan territory. He had to swallow a lump once he saw a patrol on the Shadowclan side. The shadowclan patrol consisted of Tawnypelt, Applefur, Toadfoot, and the clan deputy Rowanclaw.

"If it isn't the traitor" Rowanclaw said with a sneer the moment he saw Midnightclaw. Firestar looked at Rowanclaw "a traitor to your clan he maybe but he is a good warrior to have for Thunderclan" Midnightclaw perked his ears up at the Thunderclan leaders praise. "Tell me Firestar, what's it like having warriors from almost all the clans? All you need is a Windclan warrior and Thunderclan will have it all" (again no, Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather).

Rocklash and Dustpelt growled and crouched down ready to attack. "Thunderclan is a great clan! And I'm proud to be a Thunderclan warrior now! For if not for them I would not have met the love of my life!" he hissed and Rowanclaw scoffed at him "You should love only those in your own clan! That cat is a useless cat! Not being able to speak belongs in the medicine den if you ask me!" there was a yowl and then a flash of gray and blue. Rocklash had tackled Rowanclaw and started to attack him. "Rocklash get off of him!" Firestar demanded. The gray warrior glared at the Shadowclan cat below him "Nobody talks about Barktail that way!" he hissed angrily. Midnightclaw blinked then ran over and grabbed Rocklash's scruff, pulling him back to the Thunderclan side of the border he glared at him.

Both toms glared at Rowanclaw and Brambleclaw stood his ground. "Good stay there in Thunderclan! We only allow pure Shadowclan cats in this clan!" Midnightclaw was going to point out that Tawnypelt was really a Thunderclan cat but Brambleclaw just glared at him telling him to be quiet. He then watched as Rowanclaw flicked his tail telling the patrol to follow him. After they left Firestar turned and looked at Rocklash who, by the look on his face, knew he was in trouble. "Brambleclaw, you and Midnightclaw finish up from here…me and Rocklash are going to talk back at the camp" Firestar said his eyes never leaving Rocklash's.

Brambleclaw nodded and flicked his tail at Midnightclaw and the black cat followed. They walked in silence as they neared the lake. The water lightly moved back and forth near the shore and the scent of the water hit his nose. Trotting up to the lake he leaned down and lapped the cold water up. Brambleclaw just watched him in the background. After he finished he licked his nose then turned to Brambleclaw. "Shall we continue?" Brambleclaw asked and Midnightclaw noticed the tone in his voice. He wanted to sneer at the deputy but realizing that he was deputy and higher up than him he just bowed his head and waited for Brambleclaw to start walking.

Walking pasted him Brambleclaw held his head high. Getting behind the deputy he then sneered knowing the deputy couldn't see him. They continued to walk in silence. Brambleclaw redid the territory marks and then nodded at Midnightclaw and continued to walk. The patrol didn't last long after that, Brambleclaw and Midnightclaw hunted for a quick eat, Brambleclaw got a small mouse and Midnightclaw found a small green lizard. He watched in enjoyment as Brambleclaw looked at him in disgust as he ate the lizard.

After he ate he got up and scratched his ear. "Let's head back to camp" Brambleclaw said with no emotion. He quickly trotted over toward the camp without waiting for the deputy. Once in the camp he looked around and saw Spottedpelt talking to Petalface. Her stomach showing a little bump. He turned his head and saw his own mate walking out of the medicine den. Trotting up to her he rubbed against her head. '_Let them think we did it'_ he thought as he did so. Barktail rubbed back and purred deeply. He pulled away and looked into his mates eyes, there was something about her eyes that told him she knew something he didn't. Before he could ask her she lightly placed her tail on his shoulder then walked away towards Petalface. '_She's been acting weird lately…What is she hiding?'_


	8. Chapter 8

Barktail watched Honeypaw and Silverpaw. The apprentices where play fighting, Barktail purred they should be warriors soon. She noticed Redpaw, Coldpaw, and Blazepaw all grooming themselves, Blinking she shrugged and didn't think too much on it. Honeypaw managed to jump on Silverpaw's back and the Silver and Black apprentice shook Honeypaw off. Looking around she saw Tigerpaw and Smokeypaw laying down next to each other. It didn't surpise her to see the two so close, ever since they found Smokeypaw they've been close.

The only time those two ever fought was when they came back and Smokeypaw became jealous of Coldpaw. It seemed that Tigerpaw chose Smokeypaw over the white cat. Barktail just shook her head and looked over and saw Spottedpelt grooming Petalface, Barktail noticed her sister stomach starting to grow. She purred a little and playfully lashed her tail around. Suddenly she felt something swatting at her tail. Turning around she saw Goldenkit and Stripedkit playing with her tail. Purring she flicked her tail upwards so it hit Goldenkit right on his nose.

Stripedkit let out a growl then pounced on Barktail's brown tail. Barktail flicked her tail from side to side causing the kit to try and pin it down. "Stripedkit come back here!" Squirrelflight said with a growl and slowly the kit made her way back into the nursery with Goldenkit not far behind. Barktail just shook her head and then saw a streak of bright orange. Turning around she saw Firestar coming up on highledge "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join under highledge for a clan meeting!" Firestar yelled out causing the cats crowed around the ledge. Midnightclaw walked up to Barktail and groaned "what does he want?" her mate asked.

Barktail noticed Coldpaw, Redpaw and Blazepaw join together at the base of highledge all looking anxious. "It is time for Redpaw, Blazepaw and Redpaw to become warriors" Firestar said and the three apprentices looked proud and slowly walked up to the leader.

"Redpaw, Coldpaw, Blazepaw….I, Firestar, leader of Thunderclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in his turn. Redpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do"

"Coldpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do"

"Blazepaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do!"

All three of them started to get nervous, Barktail could tell. "Then by the powers of Starclan I give you your warrior names! Redpaw from this moment on you will be known as Redfoot! Blazepaw from this moment on you will be known as Blazestep! and Coldpaw from this moment on you will be known as Coldfang! Starclan honors your Bravery, Courage, Sprit, and cleverness. Tonight all three of you will sit a silent vigil."

"Blazestep! Redfoot! Coldfang!" all the cats started yowl the warriors' new names. Barktail chuckled and watched as the cats started to swarm around and Barktail noticed that Tigerpaw and Smokeypaw congratulate the three as well but Silverpaw was on the edge and glaring at the three. Silverpaw seemed to be a little jealous of the three.

"Now that is not the only thing! It is time for Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw's kits to be apprenticed as well" he said and the four kits ran out of the nursery and towards the leader almost tripping over their own paws. Barktail noticed Midnightclaw tense and stand up a little straighter.

"Owlkit, Stripedkit, Goldenkit, Softkit, you four have reached the age of six moons and it is time for the four of you to be apprenticed, from this day on until you receive your warrior names you names will be Owlpaw, Stripedpaw, Goldenpaw, and Softpaw" he then looked around and let out a bit of a huff. "Owlpaw your mentor will be Icecloud, Stripedpaw your mentor will be Midnightclaw, Goldenpaw your mentor will be Sorreltail and Softpaw your mentor will be Foxleap"

Slowly the mentors walked up and joined their apprentices.

"Icecloud, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Brackenfur and Whitewing, and you have shown yourself to be Clever and strong. You will be the mentor of Owlpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Owlpaw"

Icecloud touched noses with Owlpaw and the two walked off.

"Sorreltail, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Sandstorm and you have shown yourself to be brave and fast. You will be the mentor of Goldenpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Goldenpaw"

Like Icecloud, Sorreltail touched noses with Goldenpaw and walked with the apprentice.

"Midnightclaw, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from…ummm…

"Smokefur

"Smokefur… and you have shown yourself to be Strong and loyal. You will be the mentor of Stripedpaw and I expect you to pass on all you know to Stripedpaw"

Midnightclaw walked forward and touched noses with Stripedpaw the apprentice was practically jumping. With Midnightclaw asking questions. Finally Foxleap came up with Softpaw.

"Foxleap, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Squirrelflight and you have shown yourself to be brave and energetic. You will be the mentor of Softpaw. and I expect you to pass on all you know to Softpaw."

The two touched noses and took off. Slowly the camp left to go and do their own thing. Barktail walked away and watched as her mate and Stripedpaw left the camp. Barktail then trotted towards the nursery and looked at Tailwind her kits. Raccoonkit and Rainkit where both complaining loudly at Ferncloud.

"Why can't we be apprentices now!?"

"Because you are only five moons you have to be six moons to become one" Ferncloud said calmly grooming Raccoonkit. Rainkit pouted a little and laid her head down on her paws. Barktail walked up towards Tailwind. Barkkit and Lightkit where trying to walk, the two where stumbling around. Gingerkit and Blackkit where calmly laying down. "They're getting so big!" Tailwind said happily. Barktail purred and then Dustpelt came in "Hello Barktail" he said and Barktail tilted her head towards him.

"Can we be apprentices yet!?" Rainkit asked towards her father and Ferncloud sighed. "No, Not yet" he said and Rainkit sighed again. Barktail licked Tailwind's head then left the nursery. She noticed the sun slowly setting and Coldfang, Redfoot, and Blazestep walking towards the entrance about to hold their vigil. With a yawn she walked towards the warriors den out of the corner of her eye she noticed Silverpaw hanging out by herself around the nursery. Barktail shrugged and walked towards into the warriors den.

Laying down on her bedding she yawned and fell asleep.

When she woke all she knew was it was still dark out. There was a yowl and Barktail jumped up. Running out of the den with all the other warriors. Once out she noticed that the cats already up where crowded around the nursery. Another yowl rang out and Barktail realized that it was two yowls not just one. Pushing cats out of her way she made her way towards the nursery where she saw both Ferncloud and Tailwind. Midnightclaw and Rocklash joined her the moment Tailwind saw her she yowled.

"Barktail! Our kits! Somebody took our kits!"


	9. Chapter 9

Barktail lifted her head trying to smell the kits. Next to her Spottedpelt and Petalface did the same. "I smell Raccoonkit and Rainkit towards the Windclan border….but Tailwind's kits all over the place…along with the rouges…how did they even get into the camp without anyone noticing?!" Spottedpelt snarled and Petalface shook her head "I don't know…I had to be from the hollow because Redfoot, Coldfang, and Blazestep where all on guard in the camp" She said with a soft voice. Barktail perked her ears up and listened at Midnightclaw and Rocklash came back from near the ShadowClan border. "I smelt the rouge up until ShadowClan starts" Midnightclaw muttered and Spottedpelt growled "why didn't you follow it!"

"Because mouse-brain! That'll be crossing the border and doing that will cause the ShadowClan cats to attack us! We need to talk to them first" Rocklash said with a soft growl. Barktail watched them for a few seconds then Spottedpelt stormed away into the camp. She, Petalface, Midnightclaw, and Rocklash soon followed. Once inside the camp they could hear Rocklash addressing the clan. "We have need to cross the borders! That's where the scents lead! Raccoonkit and Rainkit are past the Windclan border and Tailwind's kits are past ShadowClan!"

Barktail noticed that a bunch of cat's fur rose. "So the other clans are in on this!?" Dustpelt snarled in anger. There was a silence as Rocklash thought for a moment. "I don't know…all I know is that we need to cross the border! If we run into them on the way we can explain and if they don't let us pass then we know that they are in on this!" he yowled and Midnightclaw just shook his head. "If they don't let us though then it means that they don't believe us not that they took our kits!" he argued.

The cats around Midnightclaw and Barktail backed off and started to growl. "Of course _he_ would defend them! he's from ShadowClan!" Cloudtail hissed and Midnightclaw narrowed his eyes before he could snap at the white warrior Firestar spoke "he is right. But so is Rocklash we need to cross the border and they must understand!" he said standing up. The leader looked around "Brambleclaw! Take Sandstorm, Redfoot, Honeypaw, Spottedpelt, and Silverpaw with you to the Windclan territory! Midnightclaw, Barktail, Petalface, Dustpelt, and Graystripe come with me to ShadowClan territory!" the leader yowled and slowly the cats joined their groups and Firestar walked up to them.

Brambleclaw took his group out first and Barktail waited as Firestar gave out a few more orders to the remaining warriors. Finally the leader walked out of camp and they followed. Once out they walked in silence, getting to the ShadowClan border they prepared to pass it but Firestar stopped them. "We must wait for a patrol to pass" he said calmly. They nodded and waited Barktail could tell that Dustpelt and Graystripe didn't like that idea but they said nothing.

Barktail noticed Midnightclaw looking a little anxious; of course she would be too if she had to confront ShadowClan after choosing his mate over his clan. A chilly breeze past by them and Barktail shuddered a little. Petalface noticed and gave Barktail a soft purr, Barktail purred back a little and looked down at her sister's stomach. She would have to move into the nursery soon. Barktail jumped a little when Rowanclaw's voice rang out. "Firestar….what is the meaning of this?" the ShadowClan deputy asked with a little growl. Firestar stood up straight at Rowanclaw's question. "Our kits where taken by rouges. We need to go through ShadowClan territory-"

"No."

Just a simple word caused Barktail, Graystripe, and Dustpelt to jump up and growl. Rowanclaw watched then and Firestar stood up "You don't understand…our kits-"

"I heard you, they were taken by rouges but whose fault was that?! Firestar they are your kits! If you can't keep your own clan in check then that's your problem! Not ShadowClans!" This time the rest stood up growling. Midnightclaw narrowed his green eyes "Remember the warrior code! No warrior can neglect a kit in pain or danger even if the kit is from another Clan!" he hissed and Rowanclaw snorted but then thought for a moment. "Ok….you may pass...but I don't want those two on our territory" using his tail Rowanclaw pointed at Barktail and Midnightclaw. There was a silence then Firestar nodded "Go back to the camp…" he told the two. Barktail and Midnightclaw hesitated then slowly walked away. Once back at the camp Midnightclaw lashed his tail around.

"Why do they think that we killed all those warriors?!" he snarled and Barktail sighed feeling a rant coming on. "I mean we didn't do! Ask anyone!" the cats started to watch him and Barktail just looked down. At this point the black cat started to pace and Barktail sighed and rubbed against him trying to calm him down. "We didn't kill Darkstorm! I would never kill Waterflight!" Barktail stopped rubbing against him then glared at him. "What's with that look?" he asked with a clueless look. Barktail lashed her tail out at him '_you would never kill Waterflight? Even after she tried to kill me?'_ she thought a little miffed at her mate for saying that. "Why are you looking at me like that? What did I say?" he demanded now fully angry. Barktail narrowed her eyes then with her head held high she stood up and walked away from Midnightclaw hitting his face with her tail in the process. She then walked into the warriors den. "Seriously!? Barktail!"

Barktail circled her next then laid down '_if you don't know what you did wrong then I'm not answering to you'_ she thought as she settled down. She then licked her stomach.

'_Shame, I was going to show that I was expecting too'_

_**I own nothing! Ok…**__**FANFICTIONERS!? WHY U NO TELL ME I WAS TYPING THE CLAN NAMES WRONG?!**__**Geez! Luckily I was rereading the darkest hour when I noticed that Clan at the end of the clan names needed to be capitalized….**_


	10. Chapter 10

Honeypaw looked at Sandstorm. "I don't smell them" she whimpered and gently the ginger warrior placed a tail on Honeypaw's shoulder. Silverpaw just smirked in the shadows, she then looked around the moor and the WindClan cats that where watching the ThunderClan warriors closely. Brambleclaw let out a sigh "Let's move out…the kits aren't here" he said with a depressing sigh and slowly the cats left the WindClan territory. "If we smell your kits we'll let you know" a black and white WindClan warrior said. Brambleclaw nodded towards the warrior then flicked his tail signaling for the other cats to follow.

Honeypaw let out a low whine and Sandstorm sighed "Don't worry Honeypaw, we'll find them" she said and Honeypaw just looked down her brown eyes glazed with sadness. They walked in silence once back in the camp Honeypaw snuck away into the apprentice den where Tigerpaw and Smokeypaw where huddled together. She looked at the two and cleared her throat, slowly the two blinked and looked at her. Tigerpaw's orange eyes where glazed with sleepiness and Smokepaw's amber eyes just looked angry. "You guys want to be warriors right?" she asked gently causing the two apprentices to look at each other than at Honeypaw. The brown and gold apprentice leaned in and whispered "I heard a story of when Firestar was an apprentice he helped save the kits that ShadowClan took…I was thinking that we do the same thing! Sneak out and find the kits ourselves!" she whispered excitedly.

Both apprentices perked their ears up at Honeypaw. "I don't know Honeypaw….We're not supposed to leave the camp without our mentors" Tigerpaw said but Smokeypaw jumped up "I'm in! I want to be a warrior before Silverpaw!" she yowled with determination. Honeypaw jumped back a little then purred "C'mon Tigerpaw! Look at Smokeypaw, she wants to come" Tigerpaw thought for a moment then let out a sigh "Fine, but we can't be gone long" he muttered.

Honeypaw let out a purr then turned and walked out of the den. Looking around she made sure none of the warriors where watching them. She flicked her tail and slowly her siblings followed (yes, she sees Smokeypaw as a sibling). They managed to get out of the camp and up to the training hollow. Tigerpaw and Smokeypaw looked at her "What now?" Smokeypaw asked lightly shuffling her paws. Honeypaw lifted her head and sniffed the air. "Well, I can smell Raccoonkit and Rainkit near WindClan…but their scents stopped. Tailwind's kits are near ShadowClan border, I don't want to go near there because Firestar is already there so let's go and search around WindClan again!"

Both Tigerpaw and Smokeypaw nodded and followed Honeypaw. She sniffed the damp ground and followed the kit's scent. She then stopped "Odd…..OH!" she said suddenly causing Smokeypaw and Tigerpaw to jump back. "What?!" They both asked at the same time. "The kit sent leads to the lake! But the rouge scent leads pass WindClan!" she said her brown eyes widening. Once again Tigerpaw and Smokeypaw looked at each other than at Honeypaw "Go on…" Tigerpaw muttered and Honeypaw rolled her eyes "We followed the wrong scent! Instead of going after the kit scent we went after the rouge scent! Since all of the scents where mingled, the one that stuck out the most was the rouge scent!" she exclaimed happily.

Without waiting for them to reply she followed the kit scent. Quickly they caught up with her. She had her nose so close to the damp earth that whenever she breathed in she would get speckles of dirt on and in her black nose. She brought her head up and snorted the dirt out. Smokeyfoot let out a squeal causing both Tigerpaw and Honeypaw to jump up. The gray and black apprentice shot forward and Honeypaw understood why. Underneath a log where the kits. Not just Ferncloud's but Tailwind's as well, all kits where fast asleep and Honeypaw noticed on the ground right by them was a pile of black seeds. Leaning down she sniffed the seeds "I think these are poppy seeds" she mumbled while Tigerpaw and Smokeypaw checked on the kits. "They're all breathing" Tigerpaw said with a purr. Honeypaw nodded happily "Smokeypaw go get Firestar! We're so going to be warriors!" she yowled almost jumping up and down.

Smokeypaw nodded and hurried towards ShadowClan where Firestar was. Honeypaw looked at the seeds again. "Whoever took them wanted them a sleep so they wouldn't struggle…I guess they must have took the seeds from Leafpool while she was sleeping as well" she whispered. Tigerpaw blinked then shook his black and white pelt. "The strange thing is though….the rouge scent didn't start until the camp entrance. I'm the only one who noticed that…do you think one of our own helped steal the kits?" he asked and Honeypaw thought for a moment "Who would betray ThunderClan?" she asked him and he just shook his head "I don't know….I really don't" just then the sound of cats crashing through the trees and undergrowth entered their ears.

The first cat to appear was their bright orange leader. "Firestar! Look! Me Tigerpaw and Smokeypaw found the kits!" Honeypaw said instantly not noticing Petalface and Graystripe until they passed her to check on the kits. Firestar eyed her and her siblings. "Do your mentor's know you are out here?" he asked not showing his emotion. Honeypaw looked down then up at the leader "No…but I wanted to find them I really did! And Tigerpaw brought up something interesting! Didn't you?!" she asked her brother who nodded and told Firestar about having a traitor in camp. Then Honeypaw told him about how they followed the wrong scents and about the poppy seeds.

"Firestar the kits are fine, just sleeping" Graystripe said and Firestar nodded and looked at the three apprentices. Graystripe noticed and purred "What is the great Firestar thinking of?" he asked with a friendly purr. "I'm thinking that you three are very clever….and that it's time for a couple of warrior ceremonies" he said with a purr and all three of them widen their eyes. "But first help us carry these kits back before Tailwind and Ferncloud have our heads" Graystripe said grabbing Blackkit and Gingerkit, Honeypaw nodded and picked up Barkkit, Firestar grabbed Rainkit and Raccoonkit, and Smokeypaw grabbed Lightkit. Tigerpaw happily trotted beside Smokeypaw. Once back in camp the kits where welcomed by their mothers and instantly put back into the nursery.

Firestar ran towards highledge and looked down there was no need to call a clan meeting for most cats where already looking at him. Barktail even walked out of the warrior's den once she heard Tailwind yowling. Honeypaw noticed that her mother was staying away from Midnightclaw which was weird. "Ok, to start this off I want to say that the threat of rouges had grown to the extreme. After this gathering I will send out double patrols…Tigerpaw, Smokeypaw, and Honeypaw have not only found the kits, but brought up some interesting news. The rouge scent didn't start inside the camp but outside! So that means that it was one of our own who took the kits and gave them to these rouges!"

The moment he ended the ThunderClan cats started to yowl and hiss. Honeypaw noticed that a lot of them where looking at her mother and Midnightclaw. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Silverpaw looking rather angry. Firestar lashed out his tail and soon the cats went quite "We will wait until the kits wake and tell us what happened! We will not take action until then" he hissed and a few cats still looked at Barktail and Midnightclaw.

"As for now…Honeypaw, Smokeypaw, and Tigerpaw…it is time for you to be warriors"

If Silverpaw looked angry before it was nothing compared to how she looked now, if looks could kill all of them would be dead. Honeypaw slowly walked around her sister and up to highledge with Tigerpaw and Smokeypaw.

"I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in there turn."

There was a silence then Firestar continued.

"Tigerpaw! Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do!" the black-and-white tabby yowled happily.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Tigerpaw, from this moment you will be known as Tigerstripe. StarClan honors your bravery and determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan!"

He then turned to Smokeypaw.

"Smokeypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do" she said calmly, Honeypaw noticed Smokeypaw giving Silverpaw a smug look before Firestar continued.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Smokeypaw, from this moment you will be known as Smokeycloud. StarClan honors your Courage and Kindness, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan"

Firestar then finally turned to Honeypaw.

"Honeypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do!" Honeypaw started to squirm while waiting for the leader to finish.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Honeypaw, from this moment you will be known as Honeyblossom. StarClan honors your Cleverness and your energy, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan!"

After he finished the whole clan yowled out their new names. Well, almost the whole clan, Silverpaw was just glaring at the ground. Honeyblossom didn't even realize that Firestar was resting his head on the others until he did it to her. Licking his shoulder she looked around once again. "You three will now hold a silent vigil" the leader told them and slowly they moved from Highledge. Almost all ThunderClan cats congratulated them except for Silverpaw. Honeyblossom wanted to talk to her but she didn't. Instead she took her place next to Smokeycloud and Tigerstripe and held the quite vigil.


	11. Chapter 11

Barktail looked at Honeyblossom, Tigerstripe, and Smokeycloud, she felt a pride wash over her like a storm. She noticed her mate walking up beside her "still mad?" he asked with a strange cautiousness. Barktail's yellow eyes watched him for a few seconds then shook her head. Midnightclaw then licked her head "I love you so much…you know that right?" he asked his green eyes where bright. Barktail nodded at him and he licked her head again.

Barktail then looked at him and purred he then sat down "I know why you got mad at me now…Waterflight tried to kill you and I said I wouldn't kill her…but if she was going to kill you I would! I mean it! I love you more than her!" Barktail let out an _mrrow_ silent laugh and Midnightclaw purred at her. "Barktail!" both Midnightclaw and Barktail turned around to see Leafpool with her mouth full of borage. "Sorry, I had to check on the kits first" she said placing the borage in front of the queen.

Midnightclaw looked at her in confusion then at the borage. He sat there for a few moments in silence. Both she and Leafpool looked at him waiting for him to get it. "Do you need a hint?" Leafpool asked and he shook his head "No…."

"…."

'_You can do it'_

"…"

"Midnight-

"YOU'RE PREGNANT?!"

"Finally!"

'_There you go!'_

Barktail then leaned down and started to eat the bitter borage. "Wow! I can't believe it that's great!" he yowled happily he then licked her ear and she purred at him again, Leafpool let out a _mrrow_ laugh then left to her den. "Oh, you have to move the nursery immediately! At least you won't be alone you'll have Petalface, Ferncloud, and Tailwind with you!"

She sat down and watched him.

"Are you hungry? Do you need to rest? How about some fresh-kill?"

Barktail let out another sigh and just watched his go on. Her eye began to twitch as Midnightclaw now started to push her towards the nursery. "Why don't you go and rest?" Barktail spun around and cuffed his ear like an apprentice. Midnightclaw stopped pushing her and just looked at the she-cat "what?" he asked in a hurt voice and Barktail just gave him a look and he soon understood.

"Oh, ok…well, I think I'm going to go hunting" with that the black cat trotted away and Barktail just shook her head and turned around. "It's true?" Rocklash asked form behind. Turning around she looked at her brother. "Great…really!...I'm going to talk to Tailwind" he then ran into the nursery. Barktail just blinked '_what was that about?'_ she thought as she looked around.

She noticed Redfoot watching Honeyblossom with a longing look and she couldn't help but laugh. It's obvious that those two liked, if not, loved each other. She then yawned and shook her pelt. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Silverpaw. The silver and black tabby was sitting by the elder's den looking both angry and sulky. The brown and white she-cat sighed at her kit but didn't go over to her. She just walked back into the warrior's den and lay down. The kits where safe and there was nothing to worry about for the time being.

So for now it was time for her to fall into a nice and well deserved sleep…

**I'M SORRY I KNOW IT'S SHORT BUT PLEASE DEAL WITH IT FOR NOW!**


	12. Chapter 12

Barktail opened her eyes and purred. She felt warm and well rested for once. Getting up she licked a few stray scrapes of moss off of his pelt and then shook her fur to make sure she didn't have any moss pieces that she might of forgotten about. After she shook her pelt she looked around the warrior den and noticed Tigerstripe and Smokeycloud sleeping next to each other and purred. Then out of the corner of her eye she noticed Honeyblossom and Redfoot asleep together as well.

She purred again then trotted out of the warriors den and let the sun heat up fur again. Once warm she noticed that Midnightclaw wasn't anywhere to be seen. Before she could look around some more Spottedpelt ran up to her his eyes wide "Barktail! Barktail! Petalface! She-She had her kits! Well, kit!" he then pushed Barktail towards the nursery. Barktail just snorted and peered into the nursery. Tailwind was keeping Barkkit and Gingerkit back from the new addition to the nursery and clan.

Petalface was on her side and one little kit was suckling. The kit was a molted brown and black tabby like Darkstorm. Petalface looked up at Barktail and purred "Barktail, met Adderkit" she said and Barktail purred and licked Adderkit then licked Petalface's head. Petalface shut her eyes and purred deeply. Barktail then walked over to Tailwind. The queen was now grooming a struggling Barkkit. Barktail sat down and watched as the tom complained loudly to Tailwind. She looked around and saw Lightkit and Gingerkit playfighting but she couldn't see Blackkit. She looked around some more but didn't see the black and brown spotted tabby anywhere. She took a deep breath and smelt the kit outside of the nursery; she walked out following the kit's scent.

She stopped just outside of the medicine den, Hearing the kit's voice talking to Leafpool. "So this is Dock? It smells so bitter!" Blackkit said and Leafpool purred "yes it is, but it helps stop infections" Barktail sat down and watched.

Blackkit ran over to the marigold, "But isn't that also what Marigold is for?" the kit asked sniffing the yellow petals "Yes, but dock helps with some that marigold doesn't…oh hello Barktail do you need some more borage?" Leafpool asked and quickly Blackkit came up to her with her mouth full of borage and Barktail laughed and gently took the borage and ate it. "Blackkit, I think it's time for you to go back to your mother" Leafpool said pushing the kit out of the medicine den "aw! But I want to know more herbs!" the kit prostested and Leafpool laughed again "No, come back later ok? here…" Leafpool gave her some more borage "why don't you give this to Petalface" she said and happily the kit took it and trotted away. Leafpool laughed again "I think I have a new apprentice" she told Barktail. She chuckled once more then left the medicine den. "Barktail!" turning around she saw Midnightclaw enter the camp with Stripedpaw.

The brown and black apprentice happily trotted towards Owlpaw who was sitting next to Icecloud. The two started to talk for a few moments then Icecloud lead Owlpaw out of the camp. "Can Stripedpaw talk or what?" Midnightclaw asked Barktail with a heavy sigh. "She talked the whole way through training and hunting, I had to tell her that she wasn't going to catch anything if she was going to keep talking like that" he said and Barktail chuckled at him. He then took a deep breath "well, as you can see she didn't catch anything!" he growled lightly looking at Stripedpaw.

'_Give her time she's new at this and needs time'_ Barktail thought placing her tail on his shoulder. Midnightclaw looked at her and purred lightly, his green eyes softened at her. "Why don't we have some fresh-kill?" he asked and she nodded and padded over to the fresh-kill pile. Picking out a mouse she laid down next to her mate. She took a bite and then gave it to Midnightclaw, before the black cat could take a bite Silverpaw came into the camp with Spottedpelt. She had a mouse, lemming, magpie, and a thrush hanging from her mouth. Spottedpelt also had some fresh-kill in his mouth. He had a mouse and a shrew. Barktail watched as they placed the fresh-kill in the pile and Silverpaw sauntered off to the apprentice den.

Spottedpelt laid down next to them with a purr. "You know, I think it's time for Silverpaw to be a warrior" he said and Barktail tilted her head, Midnightclaw on the other hand continued to eat. "All that fresh-kill we brought in? She caught it all!" he said excitedly and Midnightclaw blinked "Really? Wow…I'm with Spottedpelt, why don't you go and talk to Firestar about it?" he asked and Spottedpelt nodded "I will, first I want something to eat…"

He then walked back to the fresh kill pile.

**Xxxoooo0000ooooxxxxxooo000**

Barktail laid out in the sun warming her fur, her stomach was getting bigger and the kits are kicking a little but she chose to ignore it. She laid her head down on her paws and purred deeply. Spottedpelt emerged from the nursery, noticing Barktail he trotted over towards her. "Adderkit gets cuter every time I look at him!" he exclaimed to Barktail who just yawned loudly. "Yeah, Yeah, I'm boring you…so what about your kits! Hmm…I wonder what they'll look like?" he thought sitting down next to the she-cat.

Barktail slowly sat up with a silent grunt. "Of course your stomach is getting pretty big!" he exclaimed and Barktail swatted at his head. "Ow! Hey! I didn't mean that as an insult!" he grumbled rubbing his ear. She just lightly huffed and licked her paw and rubbed it over her ear a few more times. Spottedpelt purred at her "I talked to Firestar and he said that Silverpaw will be made a warrior, I gave her the news and she's grooming her fur, making sure it sparkles" he said with a chuckle.

Barktail purred and turned her head towards the apprentice den. As if on cue, Silverpaw came out her fur glowing.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, join under highledge for a clan meeting!" Firestar yowled causing Barktail to jump up. Silverpaw ran towards Highledge excitedly, her eyes wide. She waited at the base as the others slowly came around. Midnightclaw pushed his way towards Barktail "Silverpaw's turn?" he asked and she nodded at him "Finally, you know I figured she'd be the first to be a warrior not the last" he said tiredly and Barktail purred.

"Silverpaw, come up here" Firestar said and the black and Silver tabby ran up to the leader.

"I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn!" Firestar yowled and Silverpaw puffed out her chest.

"Silverpaw! Do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect your clan even at the cost of your own life?"

"I do!"

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Silverpaw, from this moment you will be known as Silvermist! StarClan honors your Courage and your quickness, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan!"

Firestar placed his head on Silvermist's head and she liked his head.

"Silvermist! Slivermist!" The clan yowled and Barktail watched as her daughter walked down and was swarmed with warriors and apprentices. After a while they left her and she walked over and did her vigil. Barktail watched her and purred deeply.

'_Tigerstripe, Smokeycloud, Honeyblossom, and Silvermist…all mine and all warriors…and soon I will have more to become warriors.'_

**Ok new chapter yay! Happy thanksgiving people! One more thing I realized in one chapter I said that Spottedpelt was going to be goldenpaw's mentor then in the next I put Sorreltail as his mentor and never explained why…well I forgot that Spottedpelt was still mentoring Silverpaw I know pretty stupid of me lol so I had to make Sorreltail his mentor….any way happy thanksgiving!**


	13. Chapter 13

The night was black, no moon shown in the sky. Yet, a lithe figure slipped through the forest tree's with ease. The cat continued to run until it stopped at the ending of the forest and the beginning of a moor. The cat's fur raised a little as it looked around making sure nothing was watching. Once sure it crossed and quickly ran until it reached a small group of three other cats. One was giant compared to the rest. "Jenks…" the cat breathed.

"Yes-Don't talk!" Jenks snapped at the small cat. The cat stood up straight but said nothing at the white and leopard spotted tom paced "Those kits shouldn't have been found! Why would you pick such a mouse-brained place to put them?!" Jenks demanded and the cat sighed "I…Didn't think-

"Of course you didn't! Do you ever!?" Jenks growled getting into the other cat's face. "Jenks…" another she-cat stepped up she was white with green eyes and a stump of a tail. "Calm down…we will get the kits…"

"You better hope, Angel!" Jenks hissed at the white she-cat. The other cat stepped forward "One more thing, Barktail is also pregnant…"

"How close is she to Kitting?" Angel asked ignoring Jenks. "Do I look like a medicine cat, Angel!?" the cat growled. The third cat stepped up, an old she-cat with black fur and a small white smudge on her chest. When she spoke her voice was raspy "I'm not getting younger here! My time is almost up! When are we going to do this?! Who cares if Barktail is pregnant!?"

There was a silence then Jenks spoke "Luna…remember we said that we would kill any cat that will resist us…and I mean _any…_pregnant or not" Luna growled at him and Angel just glared at him. Then the cat looked at him "How's Nightclan coming along?" the cat asked and Jenks straightened "we got a lot of followers….Midnightstar will be happy with us, when we take over that clan….Nightclan will live again!" Jenks yowled into the night.

**Xxxxooooo00000ooooxxxxooo**

Barktail purred as she looked at Adderkit, the kit had already opened his dark, Midnight blue eyes, now he was trying to walk. His brown and black fur shinned in the sun light. Gingerkit ran up to the kit and purred. "You're doing good Adderkit!" the soft ginger she-cat said in an encouraging voice. Adderkit looked at her and purred, but said nothing.

Barkkit watched Adderkit and Gingerkit with a look that told Barktail that he was up to something. His tail lashed from side to side, he crouched down low, then he jumped…right on Gingerkit. "haha! Take that you traitor!" Barkkit yowled as him and his sister rolled onto the nursery ground. Tailwind chuckled as she watched as well. Gingerkit pushed her brother off of her and licked her black paw. "Can't you see I'm helping Adderkit!?" she hissed. Lightkit peered out from behind Tailwind. "Why does Adderkit need your help?" the white and blue kit asked.

Gingerkit held her head high as she answered. "Because….Because he just does!"

"That's not a reason!" Blackkit said her tail lightly tapping the ground.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

Gingerkit crouched down like Barkkit did and tackled Blackkit to the ground "Get off me you big lump!" Blackkit demanded and Gingerkit stuck her tongue out "No!" the ginger, white, and black kit said sitting on Blackkit's stomach. Blackkit started to kick at Gingerkit but the kit wouldn't budge. "I said, get off!" Gingerkit was tackled again only this time by Lightkit "Ha!" he said holding his head high. Gingerkit pouted and angrily stormed to Adderkit. Who was now back at Petalface's stomach.

Petalface chuckled at Gingerkit "Go back to Tailwind" she ordered the kit and Gingerkit pouted and trotted to her mother. Barktail chuckled along with Tailwind and got up with a grunt. Her stomach was swollen and round. It wouldn't be long before she would start kitting. Leaning down she tried to lick on of her hind legs but her stomach was so round that she couldn't get around it. With a huff she glared at her stomach '_I hate you….'_ She thought darkly. (Just her stomach not the kits inside it lol) Petalface, who was watching her, laughed loudly. "I know the feeling Barktail, but glaring at your stomach isn't going to do anything" Petalface said plainly and Barktail flattened her ears.

Tailwind and Petalface chuckled at Barktail. Feeling slightly angry she walked out of the nursery. Once out of the nursery she heard Petalface talk to Tailwind "Mood swings…I can tell" with a growl Barktail stormed out into the forest. She walked to the lake and glared at her reflection, the scar across her eye brought back the memory of Waterflight hitting it with her claws. '_Why am I so…ARG!'_ she swiped at her reflection, which rippled for a moment then went back to normal.

Her ears flattened again and she lapped up the cold water. Yawning she licked her stomach and then her white paws. '_I'm so fat….'_ She thought looking down at the water. Her yellow eyes stared back at her. With a sigh she laid down staring at herself. Suddenly a noise caught her attention, her ears perked up and her fur rose. '_No, not me…'_ she thought as she stood up. Extending her claws out she clawed at the ground. Waiting she watched as a bush rustled and she smelt the air, but she couldn't identify the scent.

Crouching down she snarled showing her fangs. Her fur rose higher making her look twice her size. Her tail fluffed out even more and her eyes hardened. The bush rustled once more and her pupils narrowed as the danger was getting closer. Then out of a bush came a plump, black and white rabbit. Without skipping a beat Barktail jumped on it thinking it was a rouge. She landed on it breaking its neck. '_Well, it's not a rouge but it'll do' _she thought as she grabbed the dead rabbit's scruff.

She quickly buried the rabbit and sighed her yellow eyes went back to the lake when she leaned over what she saw scared her. It was not her face that stared at her but a face that she hasn't seen in a long time '_Spottedleaf….'_ She thought looking at the beautiful she-cat. '_Barktail…'_ Spottedleaf's voice rang though her head and she stared into Spottedleaf's amber eyes. Then her face disappeared leaving Barktail looking at her own face again '_what…was that about?'_ she thought, she then shook her head '_I'm losing it'_ she thought she then looked where she buried the rabbit '_might as well go hunting'_ she thought getting up her stomach brushed against the floor.

She tried to smell something, anything but her nose was failing her. After a while she gave up '_this is why pregnant she-cats stay in the nursery, their senses get all screwy with the pregnancy…'_ looking at her stomach she glared at it '_it's all your fault!'_ she thought, narrowing her eyes. With a pout she walked back to where she buried the rabbit she unburied it and walk back to camp with the rabbit hanging limply in her mouth.

She placed the rabbit on the fresh-kill pile and let out a heavy sigh. She noticed Silvermist laying in front of the warriors den her silver fur sparkling in the sun light. Barktail just shook her head and turned around only to come face to face with Redfoot. "Oh, hello Barktail!" the warrior greeted warmly and Barktail purred at him. "Have you've seen Honeyblossom? I've been looking for her…" his green eyes shown great worry. Barktail understood why, with all the death that's been happening.

Barktail felt a twang of worry as well. She shook her head and Redfoot let out a sigh "I'll keep looking then" he said as he walked out of the camp. Barktail lashed her brown tail out "Barktail? Is everything ok?" looking around she saw Rocklash trotting towards her. The gray warrior sat down and purred at Barktail's stomach "hey there! How many are you in there this time?" he asked her stomach and she rolled her eyes. Not the first time he talked to her stomach.

She lay down with Rocklash, while her brother talked to her stomach, she thought about Spottedleaf's face in the water. '_something bad is going to happen…I can feel it…'_


	14. Chapter 14

Barktail felt the kits kick her stomach. Her ears flattened watching it, _'Come on….just come out of me already!'_ she demanded glaring at her plump stomach. Adderkit waddled up to the queen. His eyes looked at her stomach for a few seconds then he sat looking Barktail's stomach. Petalface chuckled and walked over to the kit "Come on Adderkit, this way" the queen pushed the kit back to his own nest and Barktail laid her head down with a sigh.

The only thing that could be heard from the nursery was Gingerkit and Barkkit play fighting. Licking her white paw she sighed and shut her eyes. Lightkit must have joined in with the fighting by the sounds he was making. She yawned and lifted her head to look at the playing kits. They were in such a flurry that it took Barktail a moment to identify what kit was doing what. Lightkit was on the ground squirming against Gingerkit while her black and white paws where on his chest. Barkkit was laying on Gingerkit's back making her look like she was lying down while pinning Lightkit down.

Barktail let out a silent laugh as she looked at the kits. The only kit not playing was Blackkit, she was laying by Tailwind's stomach just watching. Shutting her eyes she laid her head down again. Her kits kicked again getting restless. She gritted her teeth as one of them gave her a painful nudge in the ribcage. '_Keep calm will you?'_ she thought as she glared at her swollen stomach. Almost as if the kits understood they stopped kicking and she sighed. '_Not long…they should be out soon..' _ She couldn't help but smirk as she remembered the last time she was pregnant.

The crazy twolegs had her captured with that stupid kittypet and they got her out. Then it brought up memories of when Nightclan was thriving. '_Why…why did you take that away from us?'_ Barktail asked keeping her eyes closed feeling a painful sensation. She shifted a little and got comfortable. Laying her two paws over each other she then laid her head down on her paws. The kits got louder as they continued to fight. Barktail lowered her ears in frustration and snorted wanting the noisy kits to hush up and do something else.

The three kits rolled around and one of them, Gingerkit, tumbled from away from the group and wound up getting thrown at Barktail's stomach. Barktail's head shot up and she opened her eyes glaring at the kit. Gingerkit's ear's lowered and she ran back to Tailwind. Letting out a huff she got up with a painful grunt. Nobody said anything as she walked out of the nursery and laid down in the sun light warming her brown fur.

"Barktail, is everything ok?" Midnightclaw asked walking towards his mate. He sat down next to her, his black fur glowing slightly in the sunlight. Barktail sighed and looked at him. For once she thought of nothing. Her eyes must have given away something because Midnightclaw rubbed against her brown fur.

Barktail gave her chest a few licks, keeping her eyes on the ground. Midnightclaw sighed and lay down next to her so his flank was touching hers. "Everyone is staying away from me, I can hear them whispering about me and the rest of the Nightclan warriors…" he whispered and Barktail rubbed her head under his chin and tried to purr. But she couldn't.

She can't purr….

She blinked a few times and tried again but nothing. '_What's going on…'_ she thought her breath quickening. She kept on trying to purr but still remained silent. After a few moments Midnightclaw noticed something was wrong. "Are you ok?" he asked. Barktail nodded even though it wasn't true. She tried to purr once more and she slowly down casted her eyes.

She's truly mute now, she can't even purr, she has no way to communicate. She truly was mute now…

Her heart broke, she felt it break into a million pieces.

Then, she saw red.

'_What did I do to deserve this?! Why are you punishing me Starclan!?'_ getting up she startled Midnightclaw. "Whoa, are you ok?" he asked but she just turned around and stormed away. "Barktail!" Midnightclaw yelled as she walked out of camp. She didn't turn around or go back.

As she walked she felt a small pain but chose to ignore it. '_Starclan! Why can't I purr?!'_she thought still seeing bright red as she walked. Growling she unsheathed her claws, as she walked her claws angrily scrapped the ground. '_I did nothing wrong! I don't deserve this!'_ the pain in her stomach increased but like before she ignored it and continued to storm though the forest. '_it wasn't enough to make me mute was it?! No! You had to take away my only communication with the other cats!'_ at this point her mind exploded and she was unaware of the bits of leaves attached to her white claws. Her breathing increased as the pain started to grow. Slowly the redness decreased and she started to see the colors of the forest. From the brown earth to the blue sky. A great pain over swept her and she collapsed on the forest floor. She panted as the pain increased. '_Starclan what did you do?!'_ her mind yowled.

Her eyes then widened as she realized what was happening '_now?!'_ she thought her eyes widening. She started to pant again as another pain overcame her then she felt the first kit come out. Let out a silent grasp, her eyes felt like they were going to pop out of her skull. There was a wet 'plop' as the first kit came out on the forest floor. She grabbed the wet kit and licked it to get the blood flowing and to warm it up. After it was clean Barktail looked at it.

It was a bright orange she-cat with white tabby stripes just around the paws, tip of the tail, and face. (Just paws, tip of the tail, and face nowhere else) she licked the top of the kits head and the she-cat opened her pink mouth and squeaked. She grabbed the kit and placed her by her stomach. She shut her eyes as another pain came though her.

Panting she gritted her teeth as the second kit came. She opened her mouth in a yowl as the kit came out. Another wet 'plop' and she sighed. The pain was gone and she slowly grabbed the second kit. she did what she did with the first one and cleaned it. Once clean she looked the kit over a few times and sighed. It was a she-cat like the last one. Almost all white except for the silver fur starting around her eyes and going through the underbelly then ending at the tip of her tail.

Realizing that these two where the only ones coming out of her. She gently grabbed the new born kits by their scruffs and painfully got up. Her vision swirled a little but the yowls of her kits told her that she needed to get to the camp and fast. Her kits squeaked and squealed as she walked. Her legs felt heavy and her vision was unsteady. She then fell on to the floor out of exhaustion. The kits squealed as they landed on the floor.

She tried to get back up but couldn't. Feeling something cold on her nose she noticed a snow flake. '_No! No!'_ her mind yowled as the snow started to float to the ground and on her new born kits. The kits continued to squeal loudly. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. '_Please Starclan, just let me talk please!'_ she opened her mouth again trying to yowl. The snow didn't let up, in fact it increased. She heard her two kits squeals grow softer.

She opened her mouth again she felt something in her throat, it felt weird but still she tired and tired. Shutting her mouth she growled and opened her mouth once more not wanting to give up. The two kits started to shake and Barktail felt a wave of panic over take her. Once again she opened her mouth this time something did happen.

She yowled.


	15. Chapter 15

Barktail laid in the nursery. Her two kits suckling happily. "You yowled!" Rocklash said breathlessly and Midnightclaw nodded very fast. "Ok now try to talk!" the black cat demanded ignoring the fact that he had yet to name the two kits. Barktail didn't want to deal with that right now so she shook her head and licked her two kits. Midnightclaw got the hint and sighed. He sat down and looked at the two kits. "They are pretty! Look at that red and white one!" he said now fully focused on the kits.

Tailwind rolled her eyes at the black cat. Petalface started to groom Adderkit who was struggling stubbornly against his mother. Midnightclaw opened his mouth about to say something but before anything could come out of his mouth Spottedpelt ran into the nursery. "Is it true?! Did you really talk?!" he yowled. The two kits yowled in fright and all the queens glared at the black and white warrior who looked sheepishly at his paws. "Sorry" he whispered and then looked at the two kits "awww!" he yowled and they squeaked again.

"No, she didn't talk…she yowled…but I'm sure if she tired she might be able too!" Rocklash said happily. Barktail looked down at her white paws. Midnightclaw must have noticed her uncomfortable state and he cleared his throat gathering attention to himself. He then pointed to the white and silver she-cat suckling. "Snowkit" he said plainly Spottedpelt and Rocklash looked at each other confused at first then caught on "Oh!" Spottedpelt said and Rocklash snorted "Snowkit? She's not all white!" he argued and Midnightclaw narrowed his eyes at the blue and gray warrior.

"And? That doesn't mean anything! Look at Silvermist, she's not all silver!" there was a silence then Rocklash "You're right sorry" he said his blue eyes shifting away from the warrior. Midnightclaw sat down and looked at the red and white kit. Spottedpelt and Rocklash looked at the she-cat too. "Vixen….Vixenkit" Spottedpelt said and Rocklash nodded "I like it…" Midnightclaw looked at them then the kit.

"Me too…Vixenkit…." Midnightclaw said a sort of pride in his voice Spottedpelt purred with delight. "I'll go and tell Firestar!" he said happily. He then happily trotted out of the den. Barktail and Midnightclaw rolled their eyes while Rocklash looked at his kits. Tailwind noticed and purred at him. The two of them bumped their heads together Barktail couldn't help but notice the love in their eyes. '_Everything is looking up'_ she thought happily. Her kits suckled happily for milk and Barktail laid her head down. Midnightclaw sat down next to her.

"…Will you try?" he asked out of nowhere. Rocklash looked at him and sat down next to Tailwind watching. Barktail looked at her mate '_…I could. But the question is do I want to?' _ She sat there for a moment staring at her paws. She then looked up at her mate and opened her mouth.

Nothing.

She then looked back down at her paws. Midnightclaw sighed "Just sleep for now, you need it" he said and Barktail laid her head down. Her yellow eyes looked up at her mate and Rocklash. Slowly her eyes shut and she fell asleep.

**Xxxx0000oooooxxxxxxxx0000ooo **

a cat slipped through the trees and towards a make shift camp. The quarter moon was out, high above the clouds and shining brightly, giving the earth around it an almost silver glow. In the little camp, cats of all sizes, big, small, medium, sat watching the cat with interest. The biggest cat of all of them stepped forward. His white and leopard spotted fur gleamed in the moonlight. He looked down at the small cat in front of him.

"Well?" he asked, a slight hint of a growl in his voice. "Barktail has had her kits" the cat said standing straight. Before the big tom could reply a white she-cat with no tail ran forward "Really? That's great!"

"Angel step back" the tom growled. The she-cat tipped her head "Yes Jenks" she then stepped back with the other cats. The cat looked around and noticed something missing. "Where is Luna?" the cat asked and Angel dipped her head in sadness "She passed away, it was just too cold for her" the cat in front of them tipped it's head in sadness "she was a grumpy but wise elder"

"Yes, yes this is all very sad but we need to make arrangements to attack!" Jenks growled, at the mention of attacking several of the cats in the background stood up. The cat looked from cat to cat then sighed but didn't answer. Jenks noticed the silence and growled "Tomorrow…"

The cat perked it's ear's up "Tomorrow?...Isn't it too soon?"

"No, tomorrow at sun-high" Jenks then turned to the other cats behind him "At sun-high we attack ThunderClan!" he yowled and several cats yowled in agreement. "NightClan!" he yowled and a chant started.

"NightClan! NightClan!"

Jenks then turned to the cat in front of him "Remember, Firestar is mine" the cat dipped her head and Jenks continued "get everything ready, your job for now is to get the kits out of there when we attack if the queens try anything kill them."

"What if Barktail is one?"

"Then kill her too, we aren't weak and NightClan WILL rise with or without Barktail"

The cat looked around then slowly nodded "Good. Now go" The cat nodded again and headed back towards ThunderClan. "First ThunderClan…the the rest of the Clans will bow…"

**YES IT'S SHORT OK! I'm sorry…this story is almost to an end one maybe two more chapters…who is this mysterious cat I wonder…..HAHAHAH! I will never tell!**


	16. the longest chapter I have ever written!

Silvermist looked at Tigerstripe and Smokeycloud huddled together. She stuck her tongue out at the two. They were practically littermates and here they were now mates. "Silvermist?" came the sleepy voice of Honeyblossom. The silver and black tabby looked at her sister curled next to Redfoot. Honeyblossom's eyes where half opened, squinting at Silvermist. "Are you just coming in?" she asked with a yawn. Silvermist gave her sister a snort "No, I needed to make dirt now I'm going back to bed" she said and she sat down on her nest with a huff.

Honeyblossom just laid her head back down on Redfoots shoulder and Silvermist sighed '_that was close…'_ she thought as she curled in a ball. Her eyes shifted from side to side watching the other cats sleeping. Coldfang was sleeping by herself her white fur rising and falling. Silvermist growled, Coldfang was just as stubborn as her mother but just as strong as her father. Redfoot had his father's strength but none of the stubbornness of Sandstorm. Silvermist licked on of her paws then looked at the remaining cats and snorted '_too easy'_

**Xxxx00000oooooxxxx**

Barktail opened her eyes and looked out the nursery. The sun was just starting to rise. Yawning she stretched her paws out and clawed a little at the ground then looked at Vixenkit and Snowkit. The two kits where fast asleep, leaning down she licked her kits and they squeaked softly. Vixenkit opened her pink mouth and Barktail groomed the tiny kit. Her red and white fur gleamed in the sun light peaking though the nursery. Snowkit softly mewed and Barktail looked at her '_such pretty kits I have'_ she thought as she moved the kits closer to her stomach.

There was a silence and she looked at her paws '_I can talk….I CAN talk'_ she thought stubbornly, taking a deep breath she opened her mouth. Nothing.

_Come on…say it…say Snowkit!'_ She thought narrowing her eyes. Opening her mouth she tried again. She felt something in her throat twitch, a weird twitch, something she only felt three times in her life so far. She shut her mouth and gritted her teeth. She watched her kits and gulped. Opening her mouth she tried again, "S-Snnnn-" she froze as her throat rumbled. She shuddered and tried again "Snnnnn….snow…Snow…Snow!...SNOW!" she could talk, great Starclan she can talk!

"SNOW!" she yelled. Tailwind let out a moan "Yes, petalface it's snowing now be quiet" she groaned.

"It's not me…Daisy?" none of the queens opened their eyes or looked up. The kits were starting to stir on the other hand (or paw). "SNOW!"

"Not me…then…" there was a silence then all at once the queens shot up and looked at her. "Snow!" she said happily. Tailwind ran over to Barktail, almost knocking Lightkit down. "You talked! You talked!" she yowled happily rubbing against the she-cat. "Say my name!" she demanded in a happy way. "T-Tai…T-Tailw-w-wi-wind…..T-Tailw-wind!...T-Tailwind!...TAILWIND!"

Tailwind let out a happy scream and rubbed against Barktail once more. "Oh! I always wanted you to say my name!" she said her voice starting to break a little. Petalface came into view and Barktail straightened up a little "Puh-P-Peeettal….Petalf-f-fa-ce…Petalface!" she said happily and her sister just blinked and then her eyes clouded over "That…..That's all I wanted to hear…" she said and then she rubbed against her with Tailwind the two cats purred deeply. "What in great Starclan is going on?" came Spottedpelt's voice. A few moments later the warrior poked his head in the nursery. "Barktail!" Tailwind yowled and looked at the tom cat happily.

"What about Barktail?"

"Go on!" Tailwind said happily. At this point Barktail noticed Barkkit, Gingerkit, Lightkit, Blackkit, and Adderkit all surrounding her along with Daisy. "Spuh- Spot….Spotted…S-Spottedp-p-pelt! Spottedpelt! Spottedpelt!" there was a silence. The warrior stood their letting the words just soak in a little. "…what?.." then his eyes widen "Say it again! Say my name again!"

"Spottedpelt!" in a split moment the warrior ran out of the nursery yelling for Rocklash and Midnightclaw. There was a yell then next thing the queens knew Midnightclaw was being pushed into the nursery by Spottedpelt the two were yelling at each other. "Spottedpelt that's enough! Stop!"

"No you have to hear this!"

"You could have given me a minute to wake up!"

Midnightclaw looked around the nursery then at Spottedpelt. "What! What was so important that you had to wake me?!" Spottedpelt looked at her then nodded. She gulped and looked around every one was looking at her with intense eyes. "M-M…..Muh…..M-Mid…Midn-nuh…Midnight…Midnightcl-l…Midnightcla…..Midnightclaw. Midnightclaw!"

There was a silence as everyone now switched their gaze to the black warrior. "….y….You…" he never finished the sentence he just ran up to her and rubbed against her. His breath was in shuddered gasps. "I can't believe it…." Petalface breathed. "What's the big deal?" Barkkit asked shrugging his brown and white shaggy fur shaking a little. "Barkkit, Barktail couldn't talk for many, many seasons…this is the first time she's ever talked…" Tailwind explained and Barkkit tilted his head "How can she not talk?"

"That's a question that nobody can answer…" she said and Barkkit just huffed. Blackkit looked at Tailwind "Should I get Leafpool?" she asked and Tailwind shook her head "No…I think in a few moments the whole clan will know" she said with a happy whisper. Midnightclaw continued to rub against her not saying anything. Rocklash sleepy came into the nursery despise the fact that it was already overcrowded. Before he could say anything Midnightclaw spoke "I have to tell Firestar!" he said and then broke away from Barktail. Then he left the nursery almost knocking Rocklash down.

"What in Starclan's name is going on?" he asked looking at all the queens "Barktail can talk!" Tailwind said happily. Rocklash just blinked "I'll believe it when I hear it" he said plainly and Barktail happily started. "Roc…Rock…Rocklas….Rocklash!" she was getting better at this. Rocklash just purred and sat down "That's great" he said in an airy tone. Barktail sat up and then looked at the cats all around her and then shut her eyes, she could talk, that's all she ever wanted.

Tailwind purred at her "It'll be like training a kit to talk but we can do it right?" she asked the other cats around. They all nodded "I'll start!" Petalface said and sat in front of Barktail. Tailwind nodded then looked at the two warriors in the nursery she opened her mouth about to say something but before she could Firestar and Midnightclaw came in "sure, come in like this place isn't crowded as it is!" she lightly growled and then sat down.

Firestar just chuckled lightly and looked at the kits and queens then his eyes fell on Barktail. "Midnightclaw tells me that Barktail can talk now?" he asked and Petalface nodded happily "Go on Barktail!" she said and Barktail shut her eyes "F-F….Fi…Fire…Firestar..Firestar! You….are Firestar!" Midnightclaw ran up to Barktail again and rubbed against her "Look at that! She just said a sentence!"

Firestar stood there for a moment then purred "That's great Barktail…." He then leaned down and touched noses with the queen; she didn't know what took her more by surprise, the fact that the leader was touching noses with her or the fact that his nose was unusually cold. He then left the nursery and Barktail blinked. "Wow…First he trains Tigerstripe then he touches noses with you" Rocklash said and Barktail nodded. "Ok everyone who isn't a queen or a kit leave" Tailwind growled and slowly they left the nursery. Midnightclaw was a little hesitant but he still left. He was practically hopping out of the nursery.

Petalface looked at Barktail "Ok now it's going to be difficult, like training a kit….you haven't been talking for so long I have to wonder if you'll ever talk normally but that doesn't matter" she said and then purred. Barktail nodded and waited for Petalface to star. The queen cleared her throat and started "Ok something small, say, I am Barktail"

"I….I…am…B-Buh-Bark…Buh-Bark…Barktail…I am…Barktail"

"Good!"

"I am Barktail!" Petalface purred then Adderkit started to whine and Petalface sighed "This isn't over" she said in a serious tone then happily purred at Adderkit "Hungry?" she asked the kit and Barktail looked her two suckling kits "H-Hungry?" She asked stuttering. Her kits continued to suckle not noticing that their mother was now talking. Tailwind purred at her "Good, you might have that stutter since you started talking so late but hey it's better than nothing right?" she asked and Barktail purred happily.

Then Blackkit walked up to Tailwind "Can I go and see if Leafpool needs anything?" she asked and Tailwind nodded "be back before sunhigh!" she yelled after the retreating brown and Black tabby. Barktail chuckled at the queen and kit.

**Xxxxooooxxxxx0000oooo**

Midnightclaw walked around the border with Firestar and Graystripe. Firestar was fine with Midnightclaw but if Midnightclaw got too close to Firestar or Graystripe the gray warrior would hiss then swat at the black cat whenever Firestar wasn't looking. Midnightclaw watched as Graystripe sniffed around the lake then hissed "Those rouges are coming in and out of Thunderclan territory, what are they planning?" even though it was a rhetorical question the warrior was looking straight at Midnightclaw wanting an answer. Midnightclaw tensed up "What are you looking at me for? Like I know what they're doing!" he growled and Graystripe just shrugged "They seem to be going from Thunderclan to Shadowclan"

"Yeah and if you smell the other territories they'll be in there too!"

"How do you know that?! It's obvious now that you're one of them!"

Firestar lashed his tail out "That enough out of both of you" he said calmly but they both ignored him.

"Petalface told me! I know what the rouges did and I know that I would never betray Thunderclan!" he said holding his head high and Firestar lashed his tail again "I said that's enough!" he growled slightly and the two just tore away glaring at the forest ground. Midnightclaw looked up at the sky and looked at the sun "Almost sunhigh" he said plainly and Firestar nodded.

"Let's head back to the camp" Firestar said and both Graystripe and Midnightclaw nodded and started to walk back. Midnightclaw then stopped "you two go ahead I'm going to do some hunting" he muttered and Graystripe growled "then I think I'll stay with you" he said and Midnightclaw shrugged "If you wish" Firestar looked at the two then sighed "alright then, I'll be back at camp" he said and Midnightclaw watched as the tip of his bright orange tail disappeared then growled at Graystripe "I can hunt by myself you know! I'm not an apprentice!" he snarled showing his fangs. Graystripe hissed arching his back.

"I have my reasons for not trusting you!" he growled back at the black warrior. Midnightclaw narrowed his eyes then turned away from Graystripe "follow if you want, I am no threat to Thunderclan I have been here for many seasons and I have done nothing wrong" as he walked away he heard Graystripe mutter "Yet"

Graystripe then ran up and got into Midnightclaw's face "It's not the first time I've been betrayed by a Shadowclan cat!" he hissed and Midnightclaw sneered "Last I checked Graystripe I'm not the only cat who switched clans because of love!" he growled back and Graystipe swatted at him but he ducked before he could get hit.

"That was different Silverstream died giving birth, I couldn't leave our kits!" He hissed and Midnightclaw snorted "I love Barktail and I would have been exiled from Shadowclan anyway!" he argued back and Graystripe's fur started to rise at the black warrior. Midnightclaw then spun around so his back faced the gray warrior. "Now if you don't mind I have some hunting to do" Midnightclaw then trotted away towards the lake. '_Mouse-brain….'_ He thought watching out of the corner of his eye just in case the warrior decided to do a sneak attack.

Using his senses he took a deep breath and sniffed the air. The snow started to lightly fall on the ground feeling slightly uneasy he shook his head and sniffed again. Catching a scent of a mouse he got into the position that Rocklash had taught him. Slowly he crept forward; he saw the mouse nibbling on one of the few pieces of grass left in the coldness. Licking his lips he shifted so he was on his hunches then jumped. He landed on the mouse breaking its neck instantly. He happily purred at his catch and silently buried it.

"Nice catch…" came a familiar voice from behind, the sunlight on his back disappeared and he noticed the shadow of a big cat. Midnightclaw spun around and hissed at the taller cat "Jenks!" he yowled his fur rising and his black claws sliding out. The big cat smirked at the ex-leader "Midnightclaw, I figured you'd be happier seeing me" the tom said looking hurt and Midnightclaw hissed "what are you doing here!?"

Jenks never stopped smirking as he paced around Midnightclaw. "Rebuilding Nightclan of course! You won't believe how many followers' we found!"

"Jenks, Nightclan is dead! I hate to disappoint you but Nightclan is no more…" he said looking away and Jenks chuckled "you think that now! Just wait…" he said and Midnightclaw looked at him "What-"

Before he could finish the big cat ran off and Midnightclaw gave chase. "Stop!" he yowled crashing through the bushes, he almost tripped on some brambles as well but in the end he lost Jenks. Catching his breath he looked around then kicked a nearby stone. "For a big cat, he's fast" he said panting shaking his head he walked back towards camp forgetting about the mouse he caught earlier. Once in the camp he noticed Goldenpaw.

"Hey Midnightclaw! Can we go hunting!? Or can we train!?" she asked happily bouncing up and down at her mentor and Midnightclaw sighed "Later ok? I need to see Firestar" he said walking away. Goldenpaw's ears flattened "Oh, Ok" she said watching the warrior walk towards the leader's den.

"Firestar?" he called poking his head in the leader's den. The bright orange leader looked at Midnightstar his green eyes locked into Firestar's. "Is everything ok?" He asked and Midnightclaw looked at his paws "Firestar…do you remember Jenks?" there was a silence as the leader looked at the black warrior in front of him. His eyes gave no emotion away. "One of your Nightclan warriors if I remember….why?" He got up from his moss bed and watched Midnightclaw carefully. Midnightclaw tried to say something but something was stopping him.

Firestar was now in front of Midnightclaw and the black warrior shook his head "It's nothing, I just had a strange dream about him but silly me already forgot about it!" he said then ran out of Firestar's den and towards the nursery. He stopped just outside listening to what was going on in there. "Come on Barkail say it…Say Snowkit!"

"Snowkit, you are my Snowkit…" Barktail's voice wasn't what he thought she sounded like but it was still better than not having her talk at all. He poked his head in and purred "she's not just your kit you know that?" he asked and the brown and white queen purred at him "h-hello M-Midnightclaw!" she said happily and Midnightclaw also purred "Barktail…." He breathed and trotted into the nursery. Vixenkit and Snowkit where lying against Barktail's stomach suckling for milk. Barktail looked at Midnightclaw with loving eyes "L-Love" she said with that cute stutter. Walking over to her rubbed against her "Love" he said.

He then back up and looked at her and purred. Tailwind and Petalface also purred "We've been training her all day! She's getting better!" Petalface said proudly. Midnightclaw just watched her and felt something tug inside of him. "Yeah…I have to go and take Goldenpaw out now otherwise she'll never leave me alone" he said and as he left he heard Tailwind yowl "when you pass by the medicine den tell Blackkit to get back here!"

"Ok!" he yowled in response. He walked over towards the medicine den and poked his head in "Blackkit, Tailwind wants you back in the nursery" he said, the black and brown kit groaned "awww…."

"Go on" Leafpool said and slowly the kit walked back to the nursery and Midnightclaw walked over to Goldenpaw "Ok let's go" he said and the apprentice happily bounced up behind Midnightclaw. "So are we hunting or training?!" she asked happily and Midnightclaw looked at her "Well, we need to teach you to be quiet when hunting so we're going to work on that" he said and Goldenpaw happily nodded still bouncing along with Midnightclaw and he watched her. "Why are you bouncing?...you know what forget I asked that" he said shaking his head. He got to the lake and sniffed the air. "Ok now _whisper_ to me what you smell" he ordered.

She lifted her head and smelt the air. Her eyes then widened "I smell a mouse!" she whispered excitedly the warrior then looked at her "ok what position do you get into?" he asked and she crouched down so low that her belly touched the ground "now find the mouse and kill it" he ordered and she silently (much to Midnightclaw's surprise) crept around trying to find the mouse. There was a moment of silence then the she-cat jumped. "Yes! I did it Midnightclaw! I did it I caught the mouse!" she yowled happily and Midnightclaw rolled his eyes "That may be, but you scared the rest of the pray in the forest" he said plainly and she just showed him the mouse hanging limply in her mouth.

"Good job" he then said placing his tail on her shoulder and she held her head high with pride. "Ok now bury it and let's see if you can catch some more" he muttered and Goldenpaw happily sniffed around, Midnightclaw sat down and licked his paw, he swiped it over his ear a few times then narrowed his eyes as the apprentice walked out of his eye sight. There was a few seconds of silence then a soft thump. Then a squeal from Goldenpaw. "Goldenpaw!" he cried running forward he saw a scrawny white tortoiseshell on top of the small apprentice.

Midnightclaw snarled "Get off of her!" he growled and tackled the tortoiseshell. The she-cat growled and started to rake her claws down Midnightclaw shoulders. He hissed and struck her across the face his claws caused a deep gash on her face. The she-cat hissed again "You must be Midnightclaw" she spoke, her voice raspy and almost sickly. "Yeah, I'm Midnightclaw! Who are you!?" he demanded. Goldenpaw got up; Midnightclaw noticed that she was bleeding a little on her side. "Silly me, I'm Sabrina but Jenks likes to call me Flowerstory"

"Jenks? Big cat, white with leopard spots?!"

Flowerstory nodded "Nightclan will live! The Night will-" Midnightclaw struck her again "Shut-up! I told Jenks and now I'm telling you, Nightclan is dead! Do you hear me DEAD!" he growled and the she-cat looked at him daze a little. "That's not what Jenks told us…he said that we're killing Firestar and taking Nightclan back…." She whimpered and Midnightclaw felt his eyes narrow he then turned to Goldenpaw "Get back to camp! Warn the others!" he yowled and Goldenpaw quickly ran back to camp. Midnightclaw growled at Flowerstory. The scrawny she-cat chuckled "you're too late! As we speak the camp is being attacked!" Midnightclaw growled and got off of the she-cat. Without hesitating he ran towards the camp. He felt his claws slide out as he ran. As he approached the camp he saw Sorreltail and Brakenfur fighting off a couple of rouges. One was a white tom with a black splash across his chest and another white tom with pitch black tabby stripes.

He was about to run into the camp when Sorreltail growled "When you get inside the camp try to push them out!" she yowled then one of the toms jumped on her and the two started to fight. Midnightclaw was about to help her Brakenfur shook his head "No! Just get the other rouges out! I'll help her!" he nodded and ran into camp. Once in the camp he froze and his fur rose up, it took him a moment to realize what was happening. A lot of the warriors where of course fighting of the rouges but they were all trying to push them towards the entrance. He had to jump away to avoid being hit by a rouge, his mind then screamed '_the nursery!'_ fanatically he looked at the nursery and didn't see any signs of life.

His heart jumped up to his throat as he ran towards the nursery. He skidded to a halt inside the darkened nursery and noticed that it was completely empty. "The queens are safe! Silvermist took them and the kits to the lake! Now help us!" Rocklash yowled. Midnightclaw turned to face the rouges and growled. "Nightclan is dead! What don't you cats get from that!?"

**Xxx000oooxxxxooo0000oooxxxxx 0000**

Barktail walked with Tailwind, Petalface, and Silvermist. Vixenkit and Snowkit where clamped by their scruffs in her jaws. Petalface was holding a protesting Adderkit and Tailwinds kits where walking beside their mother in the snow. Barktail gave Silvermist a sideways glance; her silver fur glowed lightly in the cold sun. There was just something off about her, just the way she was acting. Granted she hasn't talked to her daughter since she was an apprentice but still even a mother knows when her daughter is acting strange. The scent from the lake hit her nose and she noticed the worried look of both Tailwind and Petalface.

Once at the lake, she cleared the snow and placed her kits on ground. They shivered a bit then she placed a her tail around the kits and hoped they stay warm long enough till the fighting stopped. Petalface looked at the two kits then at Barktail "Could I place Adderkit with them?" she asked. "O-Of course…" she responded and Petalface placed the kit between the two other kits. "Petalface! I'm old enough to be by myself!" Adderkit yowled and Petalface shook her head "it's too cold" she said and Tailwind nodded "You four do the same thing" she ordered and her kits laid down making a huddled pile of kits. Silvermist stayed stoic and quiet as she watched the queens. Petalface and Tailwind shared the same look "we're going back to camp; we have to make sure the others are safe…" Tailwind said and Silvermist nodded "Go." She said plainly and Barktail nodded as well "Y-Yes. Go." Barktail said as well and Tailwind nodded "Let's go Petalface!" then the two ran off.

There was a silence between the mother and daughter then Silvermist spoke. "Nightclan is rising again mother…." She said her voice silky and almost scary. Barktail tilted her head and stood up. "W-What?" she asked. Silvermist sneered "Don't act like you didn't hear me! You've been listening all your life! Anyway as I was saying…Jenks is back and the Night will rise again" she said her eyes now flashing from stoic to dangerous. Barktail felt her fur rise as she watched her daughter.

"After tonight there will be no more Firestar and no more Thunderclan" she said and Barktail let her claws slide out. "Mother…I don't want to hurt you…But I must ask you are you with us or against us?" she asked her voice sending chills though her body. After a few moments of silence Silvermist narrowed her blue eyes "I see….then I'm sorry mother but rules are rules" Barktail blinked and watched as Silvermist charged.

Blackkit let out a startled yowl as Silvermist tackled Barktail. The silver and black tabby raked her claws down Barktail's flank. Barktail let out a yowl then swatted at Silvermist's face and managed to lightly catch her with one of her four claws. Silvermist let go of Barktail and she turned and faced her daughter. "S…Stop…D..Don't…want to hurt" she whispered and Silvermist narrowed her eyes. "Too bad because I have to kill you!" she charged again and this time she managed to dodge the attack but she almost ran into the kits. Blackkit let out another squeak and Adderkit growled "Don't worry Gingerkit I'll protect you!" Barktail looked at the kits again and then protectively stepped over them.

"Don't worry it's not the kit's I'm after!" Silvermist chuckled then ran forward again this time Barktail wasn't fast enough and her daughter bit down on the back of her neck hard. She then started to drag Barktail away from the kits and towards the lake. "Mother if you keep struggling you'll just make it worse" Silvermist said her voice slightly muffled. Barktail clawed at the ground in vain as she was be dragged. "L-Let…G-Go!" she demanded she then twisted out of Silvermist grip. She let out a yowl of pain as she did so. She felt the cold air on her now open neck wound. Letting out a puff she started to feel dizzy.

Silvermist had a big chunk of Barktail's skin and fur in her mouth. She spit it out on the ground and growled. Extending her claws out Barktail watched as her daughter looked crazy. One eye was twitching madly while her fur was standing on end. Her breathing also seemed off. Then she charged once again, Barktail tried to dodge again but she felt lightheaded and Silvermist caught up with her. Her daughter ran her thorn sharp claws down Barktail's back. The kits all whimpered at the sight of Barktail's bleeding body. Silvermist got her neck again and started to shake her mother from side to side.

Then, there was a crack. Barktail fell limp. Silvermist let go of her mother's neck and watch as Barktail's body fell to the ground. She walked around and looked at her mother's face. Her eyes where still open and showing some signs of life. Her chest was lightly rising and falling. "What's wrong Mother? Can't move?" not even her eyes moved but Silvermist could tell that she was still alive. Growling she pushed her mother on to her back giving Silvermist a clear shot at her neck. Leaning down she bit into the soft flesh then pulled. She ripped her own mother's throat open.

There was a silence as Silvermist watched the life leave her mother's eyes.

Barktail was dead.

Silvermist then looked at the cowering, shocked kits. "You saw nothing! Right?" she asked in a stoic voice and slowly the kits nodded. "I saw what I needed to…" Silvermist spun around and saw Rocklash coming though the bushes. Thinking quickly she started to make an excuse. "You won't believe it Rocklash! Barktail was the one working for the rouges! I saw her try to take the kits to them!-

"Save it! I saw everything! How could you kill your own mother!?" he asked looking at his dead littermate. Silvermist growled "She couldn't stop me and neither will you!" she growled and ran towards Rocklash. Rocklash dodged and swiped at Silvermist he managed to get her flank and she started to bleed. Silvermist growled "You'll-Gah!" out of nowhere something pounced on her back. Letting out a hissed she struggled against the other cat but it did nothing. "How….How could you!?" the tom asked and she recognized Spottedpelt. His eyes where filled with hurt as he looked at the she-cat.

Rocklash came into view and she realized that she wasn't going to survive. The last thing she saw was Rocklash's claws going for her neck.

**XXXX000ooooxxxxXXXX0000**

Midnightclaw growled as he licked his bleeding flank and shoulder. Frantically he looked for Jenks or Firestar, so far he saw neither. What he did see was the dead body of Angel. It almost made him sad to see the young she-cat dead but she brought it on to herself. Before he could look any farther something crashed into him, thinking it was rouge he turned around only to see an angry Graystripe.

"I knew we shouldn't have trust you!" the warrior yowled and he jumped up and pinned Midnightclaw on the ground, Midnightclaw growled "listen to me! This is not my doing! You have to find Firestar!" he yowled but Graystripe went to swipe at him. "Why should I trust you!" he yowled as Midnightclaw ducked his attack. "Please! Firestar is in danger! You have to trust me!" Midnightclaw begged and Graystripe snarled then slowly got off of Midnightclaw "Ok, just because Firestar may be in danger…." He said and Midnightclaw took a deep breath "Have you seen him?" he asked in a worried tone and Graystripe shook his head "No" there was a yowl then Graystripe hissed. Turning around he saw a rouge had Sandstorm pinned and was aiming to finish her off.

"Sandstorm!" he yowled running before he could get to her Squirrelflight jumped on the rouge knocking it off of Sandstorm "Get off of her!" she yowled and Midnightclaw tried to see if he could find Firestar's orange pelt in the ocean of fighting cats. He gnashed his teeth together in a fret of worry then it hit him. '_His den! Check his den!'_

Pushing his way past the fighting cats he ran up to Firestar's den. He could see a white tail poking out and he ran faster. Once in he saw a bleeding Firestar pressed up against the wall of his den. Jenks had one of his massive paws was on the leader's chest. "No Jenks stop!" he ordered running up and pushing the paw away growling. Jenks hissed "Isn't this what you wanted Midnightclaw? Nightclan will rise again…you can be the leader again!" He said his voice sending shivers down Midnightclaw's spine. "Jenks…Nightclan is gone…" he whispered and Jenks growled "No! I won't allow it! Nightclan will rise again! With or without you!" Jenks went for Midnightclaw's throat snarling. Midnightclaw dodged and extended his black claws to their fullest extent.

Hissing he jumped on the big cat and bit into his shoulder. "Get off me!" Jenks demanded shaking his pelt trying to get the small black cat off of him. Midnightclaw clawed at Jenks flank and upper back. Jenks twisted around and grabbed Midnightclaw by his scruff then flung the tom away from him. Midnightclaw growled and got up weakly. He looked over at Firestar who seemed to be waking up. '_Did he lose a life?'_ he thought but the thought didn't stay long as Jenks went for him again. This time the massive tom managed to pin him down. "J-Jenks….Why are you doing this!?" he asked trying to twist out of Jenks's grip. "why?! Because Nightclan was the best thing that ever happened and look! You're just going to give it up because these cats said so?! You're weak! Why couldn't you be more like your daughter Silvermist?" his voice was cool and Midnightclaw felt his breath catch his in throat.

"S-Silvermist? I don't understand"

"Of course you don't! Silvermist was the one who took the kits, Silvermist was the one who killed Darkstorm and she helped us kill the other warriors!"

"The kits!" he yowled remembering that Silvermist had took them and the queens "Don't worry your kits and the others should be safe and sound with the other queens" he said looking at Midnightclaw and he growled and tried to get out of his grip again. "Sorry Midnight-GAH!" out of nowhere Firestar jumped up and managed to grab Jenks neck. Midnightclaw watched as the leader bit down on Jenks neck and then violently rip Jenks's neck wide open. The tom was dead before he hit the ground. Midnightclaw looked at the dead Jenks in horror then turned to Firestar who looked a little unsteady.

"F-Fire-"

"Help me carry his body to Highledge" he said in a no argue voice. Midnightclaw nodded and grabbed Jenks scruff with Firestar. The two then walked up to highledge. The cats hadn't stopped fighting and they didn't stop until Firestar and Midnightclaw dropped Jenks's dead body on the highledge. "Cats of Nightclan! Look at you leader! He is dead and so is Nightclan! You don't stand a chance against a clan joined as one now I am only going to give you one warning…Leave this forest and never come back! If you don't do as I ask then I will call the other three clans to get rid of you once and for all!" There was a stunned silence as the rouges looked up at the dead Jenks then slowly they ran out of the camp.

Midnightclaw looked at the camp, dead rouges laid down, it almost made him sad to see them but nonetheless they did this to themselves. Before he could make a move Spottedpelt came into the camp in, his head was down and Midnightclaw felt his heart thump almost painfully in his chest. "We have discovered the traitor!" Spottedpelt yowled and Firestar nodded "The traitor was Silvermist" Firestar said and a few cats gasped. Honeyblossom and Tigerstripe looked at each other in a sad gaze. "Then let's kill her or banish her!" Cloudtail hissed and Spottedpelt let out a shuddered breath "We already did that…Silvermist is no more…" his voice seemed to crack a little and at this point Midnightclaw's heart was beating so hard that he could barely hear what Spottedpelt said next. "Unfortunately….Silvermist took a life with her own…"

'_No….no!'_ his mind screamed "Where's Barktail!? Where is she?!" he demanded on the edge of being frantic. Spottedpelt's ears flattened then turned towards the entrance. Rocklash appeared at the entrance on the gray warrior's back laid Barktail, Limp, blood encrusted on her neck. "No….No!...No!" Midnightclaw screamed jumping down from Highledge and running towards his now dead mate. Rocklash put Barktail down in the clearing. There were several other yowls of sorrows but Midnightclaw ignored them. He rubbed against Barktail's stiff body, his breath in shuddering grasps.

"Wake up…Please…Wake up…." He whispered in her ear hoping she would, but he knew she would never wake up. She was already cold and her stomach bloated and stiff. He didn't want to stop rubbing her fur but he did and looked at Rocklash "What about Vixenk…Vixenkit and Snowkit?" he asked his voice sounding broken. "Petalface offered to nurse them…" he said his voice small and weak. Midnightclaw watched Barktail then turned away his chest heaving

"I love you Barktail…"

**Xxxooo0000ooooxxxxoooo00**

Many, Many, Many Moons and Season has passed since the Rouges invaded and Barktail died. Midnightclaw was now one of Thunderclan's oldest elders. Next to Sandstorm and Graystripe that is. He watched as Vixenkit and Snowkit went from Kits, to apprentices, then to warriors. Vixenkit was now Vixensong and Snowkit became Snowflower. Midnightclaw watched as Brambleclaw became Bramblestar. He watched as Honeyblossom had first litter than her second litter. Now she was expecting her third litter along with Smokeycloud and Tigerstripe expecting their very first litter.

Midnightclaw was sick and dying as well. He was old and could barely move. Leafpool and Blacktail tried all they could to make him feel better but his time was up. Now, Rocklash, Spottedpelt, Tailwind, Gingerheart, Barkfur, and Lightpelt where surrounding him as he let out shuddering breaths. Adderlight was sitting next to Petalface who was also sick but not as sick as Midnightclaw. Knowing his time was up he looked at the cats surrounding him "Outside…" he whispered and Rocklash shook his head he could hear several pops as the old warrior did so. "Blacktail said to keep you in-"

"I want to go outside! I must go outside!" he growled and Barkfur went to help him up. "No Barkfur!...Blacktail and Leafpool-"

"He's doing Rocklash…Give him this much…" The brown and white warrior growled and then helped the elder up. As he got to his feet several of his joints popped and he cringed. Gingerheart got to his other side and slowly the two warriors helped him to the outside. He didn't make it long, his legs soon gave away and he was staring up at the sky. Rocklash and Spottedpelt ran to his side. "No…leave me…" he breathed. Slowly they backed off and Midnightclaw stared at the clear blue sky. The world was starting to turn blurry. "Midnightclaw?" Tailwind whispered and he looked at her. "Barktail….I'm ready…"with that Midnightclaw let out his last breath.

The cats around him stood there in silence. Tailwind then walked over and touched her nose to his flank "You will be missed…" she breathed. Before anything else could happen Tigerstripe ran up to them "You guys have to see this!" he yowled. Slowly the elders and young warriors left Midnightclaw's side and walked into the nursery. They stood there in a stunned silence at Smokeyfoot's newborn kits. She had two, one was a pitch black tom with black claws, the other was a she-cat almost fully brown except for her paws, and they were pure white with white claws.

"Have you thought of names yet?" Rocklash asked keeping his gaze on the two kits and Smokeyfoot nodded.

"Of course, meet Midnightkit and Barkkit…"

**END**

**Holy freakin' cow! That was the longest chapter I have ever written! Ever! So review and I hope you liked it and this is the end of the silent story and the speechless warrior….I feel a little empty…I've been working on this for so long and now its done…but don't worry I'm going to put one more chapter up after this one its just going to be a bunch of Fun facts about the characters and where they came from and what inspired them that is if you're interested in reading that lol  
**


	17. Fun facts

**Ok this chapter is really just a bunch of fun facts about the characters. **

**In the very first version of the story it was going to be a quest with Barktail and Midnightclaw nothing more.**

**Once it got to be a love story Barktail wasn't supposed to leave she was going to have the kits and every one would have thought they were Spottedpelts. **

**Barktail was originally going to be a very shy cat, but I realized that it couldn't work out between her and Midnightclaw so I made her mute.**

**I didn't even realize until later on that the name Bark- mostly belonged to Tom cats. And when people did use the name Midnight- for warriors it was really for she-cats.**

**I had trouble with Silvermist's warrior name because there is a Disney fairy called Silvermist and I didn't want people to think I was naming her after the fairy.**

**Midnightclaw was not made by me, my friend made him, she didn't like the idea of a love story at first but she's gotten around to it.**

**She also made, Smokeycloud and Snowflower.**

**Smokeycloud was originally going to be called Smokeyfoot **

**Originally Midnightclaw was supposed to be the bad guy and Jenks was going to be his deputy but as you can see I didn't like that. **

**Spottedpelt will always love Barktail, that's why in the end his mate was Petalface because she was almost like Barktail to him.**

**Silvermist was the only character that never changed, she was always planned to be the antagonist and she stayed that way.**

**Blacktail was made by another friend of mine, when she said that she wanted her to be a medicine cat that was when I realized I had to kill of Softpaw.**

**I took weeks (and I mean weeks) to come up with a warrior name for Tailwind, I wanted to call her Tailcloud but I soon realize that if you flip the prefix and suffix around it makes Cloudtail, so I decided against it.**

**I wanted Graystripe to be Barktail's mentor because he's awesome. Also because he was in love with a cat from another clan.**

**Granted Graystripe was in love with a cat from Riverclan and he should be nicer to Midnightclaw for loving Barktail but thinking about it, Midnightclaw is from Shadowclan and love or not Graystripe doesn't like Shadowclan cats.**

**Rocklash was forgiven by all.**

**Goldenpaw, Softpaw, Owlpaw, and Stripedpaw's warrior names are Goldensun, Softsong, Owleye, and Stripedfur.**

**In the last chapter I forgot about Daisy.**

**Only two cats where based on my own cats, that was Smokefur (Midnightclaw's mentor) and Luna (Don't worry people she's still living but she's old)**

**Rocklash and Tailwind stopped being mates but they are still friends.**

**Petalface was jealous of Barktail because she always got all the attention.**

**The cats that were made by me where Barktail, Honeyblossom, Redfoot, Coldfang, Blazestep, Silvermist, Rocklash, Tailwind, Tigerstripe, Gingerheart, Barkfur, Lightpelt, Smokefur, and Luna.**

**My fanfic friends (and close friends) made, Snowflower, Midnightclaw, Smokeycloud, and Blacktail **

**My school friends made, Angel and Jenks**

**Vixenkit and Adderkit where requests **

**Tigerstripe was going to be mates with Coldfang but my friend wanted Smokeycloud to be mates with one of Midnightclaw's kits so I changed it for her.**

**Spottedpelt was going to be mates with Coldfang but I thought it was better if he became mates with Petalface.**

**I was going to make Tailwind, Spottedpelt's mate after she broke it off with Rocklash but as you can see I didn't.**

**I hate Rocklash's name I wish I changed it to something else.**

**I thought of having Coldfang and Smokeycloud kill Silvermist in the ending because both she-cats hate Silvermist, Coldfang because Silvermist makes fun of her for having red eyes and Smokeycloud because she never accepted her as a littermate.**

**Coldfang was going to be mute just like Barktail but I decided against it.**

**I sorta wish I called Tailwind, Tailfeather.**

**Yes, in the speechless warrior there was a small crossover between the warriors and Hetalia. (a anime that I like)**

**Silvermist, Honeyblossom and Tigerstripe all have black claws like Midnightclaw; Smokeycloud's claws are a silver color.**

**In the end Midnightclaw and Barktail are reborn, but they are brother and sister.**

**The reason why Nightclan couldn't go on is because it wasn't actrally approved by Starclan, plus (even though with cats it doesn't matter) it would have been an mainly incest clan.**

**Errr…I believe that is it! **

**Well I hope you enjoyed these fun facts about the characters and what would have happened. **


End file.
